


Rosetta

by eightprince



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Angst, M/M, Post-Break Up, this is a mess i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-06 14:41:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11602740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eightprince/pseuds/eightprince
Summary: in which Jongup is a hitman hired to kill Himchan





	1. Chapter 1

Pursuit. Pursuit.

Keep going. Don't ever look back.

Don't ever give in to anyone. Ever.

Rosetta, oh, my dear Rosetta,

everyone, everywhere, everything, they're all out to get you.

Everyone, everywhere, everything, they'll all betray your innocent heart.

All of them, all of them!

Everything's broken!

It'll all soon be rotten.

Vile. Vile!

Everything, it's all vile!

It's disgusting!

Shield yourself, my darling Rosetta, shield your heart, and mind my words.

Don't let yourself go corrupt like everything, like everyone, like everywhere.

Go, Rosetta, my precious, precious flower,

my beautiful little angel,

come and follow me. I'll keep you safe.

We'll go on many adventures together.

Find a future, a land of your dreams, a heaven, a home that won't leave you.

Find a home that won't leave you, no matter how long you've been lost.

Run, run, my darling Rosetta, run and don't look back.

Don't ever look back.

Don't let yourself go corrupt like me.

Rosetta, my messiah, please, come back.

I'm lonely, I'm lonely, I'm aching for you.

Come back to me, Rosetta, my muse.

No one, no where, nothing, will take anything, anything, anything away from me.

No one, no where, nothing, will take you from me.

Nobody, nobody, nobody, ever, because Rosetta, you are mine and mine only.

Don't let yourself go corrupt like me.

\---

Jongup's a hitman. He kills people for a living. He's good at what he does.

There isn't really a particular strategy he uses for his victims, he just lures them in, like a lion stalking its prey, then, bang! They're dead.

Never to be heard from nor seen again.

He makes sure that they’ll never been heard from nor seen again.

Tonight, he's been given another victim. 

He's in a van, parked in front of an apartment building.

"I want this one gone," the man in black says, handing Jongup a folder as he cleans his guns in the backseat of the van.

The file folder has the name "Kim Himchan" written in bold letters with a picture of a man on the cover.

The man is very pretty.

Jongup stares down at the picture.

"Who’s this?" Jongup asks, “What’d he do?”

"That's none of your business," the man in black raises his voice, just a little, "The point is that I want him gone. I don't pay you for nothing."

"Yes, sir."

"The information I’ve gathered on him are all in that folder. Name, age, birth date, address, stuff like that…”

"Yes, sir."

Jongup slides open the van door and scans the area around him, folding up pieces of paper from the folder and putting it into his pockets.

"First floor, right?" He asks, stepping out of the van and onto the sidewalk.

The man in black hums,

"Don't fuck this up," he says before pulling out a handgun and shooting Jongup right in his leg.

Jongup doesn't have time to react when he collapses onto the ground, crying out in sheer agony.

Is this how his victims feel when he shoots them?

"Wh-what the fuck," he winces.

"Don't fuck this up," the man in black repeats before driving off, leaving Jongup to suffer on the ground.

He manages to drag his body into the building, desperately trying to find Himchan's apartment.

This one? No, this one.

It's this one.

Jongup drags his body to the front door, pounding on it until Himchan answers.

The man in black said that shooting him would be a facade, but it seems that he lied.

The plan was that they'd put fake blood and a fake gunshot wound on Jongup's body, but no, the man in black actually shot him.

Jongup continues to pound on the front door, genuine tears falling down his face, staining his clothes.

"Please," he cries, "Please, open the door!"

This must be how his victims feel right before he kills them.

It's all worth it, though.

It'll all be worth it, though.

A man in a pink sweater foolishly opens the front door. What if there was a robber standing on the other side? 

Or worse?

A murderer?

Wait a minute.

The man looking down at Jongup in a panic looks exactly like the man in the picture.

He's more beautiful up close and with fear written all over his face than in the picture.

Himchan, right?

Himchan doesn't hesitate to drag Jongup by his arms into the apartment, leaving a questionable bloody trail behind.

He'll clean it up later. No big deal right now.

"D-do you want me to call for an ambulance?" Himchan asks, "Or--"

"No. No!" Jongup cries out, "I...I don't have health insurance!"

Jongup can't come flat out and say "I'm being paid a lot of money to have your head served on a platter".

Himchan raises an eyebrow in confusion. There's no time to be confused.

"Health insurance is important, you idiot," he says before rushing into another room to get a first aid kit.

According to the papers, Himchan's a medical student.

He used to be finicky at the sight of blood and would gag at the smell, but apparently that doesn't bother him anymore.

Himchan comes back with his first aid kit. It looks neat and organized.

He rolls up Jongup's pant leg, "Who did this to you?"

"P-people I owe money to," Jongup whimpers as Himchan lifts his leg up to examine the wound.

That sounds believable, right?

"That's...interesting," Himchan says, pulling on rubber gloves, "You want something to bite down on?"

"What?"

"This is going to hurt," Himchan says, quickly grabbing tweezers to pull out the bullet, "Like, a lot."

"I just got shot in the leg, I don't think anything's going to hurt more than--fuck!"

Jongup bites down on his bottom lip and squeezes his eyes shut as Himchan digs the tweezers into his skin, extracting the bullet from his leg.

"Huh," Himchan mumbles, looking at the bullet.

He sets it down on the carpet before pulling out gauze from the first aid kit and wrapping it around Jongup's leg, pinning it into place.

"What's your name?" He asks.

"Moon," Jongup says, exhausted, "Moon Jongup."

"That's a pretty name," Himchan hums, "I'm Himchan. It's a pretty name, but not as pretty as Moon Jongup."

Oh, I know everything about you, my dear.

"Rosetta."

Himchan looks up from wrapping the gauze around Jongup's leg, "Huh?"

"Rosetta," Jongup repeats.

"...Huh?"

"I'll call you 'Rosetta', like the color of your sweater. Can I call you that?"

"Do you, uh, give nicknames to every stranger that tends to your gunshot wound?"

Jongup shakes his head, "Just a--ah--new first impression..."

Himchan carefully sets Jongup's leg down on the floor and stands to his feet, "Can you stand?"

"I don't...think so."

Himchan grabs Jongup's hands and pulls him off the floor, "Try to walk."

Jongup's knees are shaking as he struggles to walk. He looks like a model on the runway who has no experience with walking in high heels, except he got shot in the leg.

"Okay, okay, don't overwork yourself," Himchan says, grabbing onto Jongup's hands as he guides him to a chair, "Sit."

"Pink looks good on you, Rosetta."

"As much as I appreciate it, please compliment me when I'm not trying to save your life, okay?"

"Okay...Rosetta," Jongup's getting used to the new nickname sliding off his tongue. It's English or something, and the way he says it is kind of adorable.

"Can you not call me that?" Himchan backs away from the chair Jongup's sitting in, "Okay....okay..." he sighs a sigh of relief.

"I owe you my life," Jongup says quietly.

"You owe me some more carpet cleaner," Himchan grunts, "How do you get blood stains out of carpets? I feel like you would know this."

Is he onto me already?

"U-uh...um..."

"Forget it, I'll Google it," Himchan walks into the back room to retrieve his phone, leaving Jongup temporarily alone in the dining room.

"Rosetta," Jongup calls out.

"I'm coming back," Himchan calls back, coming back into the living room, "And stop calling me that."

"I can't help it, Rosetta, you remind me of a flower..."

"Are you always this flirty with people who've saved your life? Because I feel like you've been in this situation before."

No, he's just trying to get under his skin.

"How can you tell?" Jongup asks.

"Your face has 'delinquent' written all over it," Himchan looks up from his phone, "...not that's necessarily a bad thing. I need ammonia."

"What for...?"

"To get this blood stain out," Himchan walks into the kitchen and opens the cabinet underneath the sink, "You're lucky I have ammonia, otherwise I'd make you walk all the way out to the store and buy some, and clean up the mess you made."

"But...my leg..."

"It's your blood, you little heathen."

"Rosetta's pretty when he's annoyed."

"Stop calling me that!"

Annoyed, Himchan scrubs out the blood stains with warm water and ammonia.

He should make Jongup clean up all the stains, but instead, Jongup watches him carefully.

Killing him may be too easy, he thinks. He looks easy to manipulate. Submissive, if you would...

"Do you have a place to go?" Himchan asks, looking up from the carpet.

"I don't."

Himchan sighs, "Okay, when I get back from cleaning the stains from the hallway, I'll get you some blankets. You can stay here...I guess."

He hesitantly gives Jongup the invitation of staying here, but he's always so quick to trust others.

Himchan's the real idiot here. 

He walks outside with his bucket of water and ammonia and his sponge to finish his cleaning, closing the door behind him.

When he's sure that Himchan's gone, Jongup pulls out his phone and quickly dials the man in black's number.

"I'm in Rosetta's house," Jongup says, voice a little above a whisper, "He's letting me stay with him until my leg gets better," he puts emphasis on his words with he's talking about his leg, because it still fucking hurts.

"Who the hell is Rosetta?" The man in black asks on the other line, deep voice intimidating Jongup.

"I mean Himchan-ssi...sir..."

"Drop the honorific, Moon," the man in black snaps, "He's your prey, not your teacher. I'm paying you fabulously, remember that."

"Yes, sir."

"Don't fuck this up," he says before hanging up the phone.

Jongup sighs and puts his phone into his pocket, waiting for his Rosetta's return.


	2. Chapter 2

With a grunt, Himchan opens the front door to his apartment and keeps the door open with his behind, dragging the bloody tub of water and ammonia along the carpet.

"That took way longer than I wanted it to," he sighs.

Jongup watches him closely, "Do you have anything else to do?"

"Homework for bio."

"Do you think I can help you with that? The tub, I mean, I'm not good with science."

"Uh, no. You can barely walk," Himchan snorts, "Just sit. And take your shoes off if you can."

He drags the bloody tub into the bathroom before dumping its contents into the toilet.

Jongup watches Himchan's face scrunch up as he flushes the toilet and sprays the room with air freshener.

Before, the room had a questionable smell to it. Now, it smells like lavender.

Himchan sets the container of air freshener back on the bathroom shelf, "Let me get you a blanket or something," he opens a closet full of blankets and other things he doesn't use.

Jongup watches in silence as Himchan carries a fluffy beige blanket in his arms and sets it on the couch.

He turns to Jongup and squints.

"Is there something on my face?" Jongup asks in a tiny voice.

"You got dried blood on your face," Himchan says, "But...you remind me so much of my ex boyfriend. Is that weird? That's kind of weird."

"Ex boyfriend...?"

Himchan nods, "He was in a gang or something. He'd come to my house bruised and bloody, and I'd tend to his wounds and shit. It's weird how I'm opening up to a stranger, but you remind me so much of him.

He'd give me money to keep quiet. Like, a lot of money," Himchan puts emphasis on his sentence, "I gladly accepted his bribes and spent it on stuff like food, clothes, books for school...I even brought him things, but it wasn't enough.

He took me out to eat and had sex with me, but it wasn't enough to make him happy."

"What happened to him?" Jongup asks.

Himchan takes a deep breath before continuing his story, "One day, he had his way with me and left. He hasn't come back since. That was a few months ago. It hit me: he betrayed me.

Turns out that he was cheating on me, which was weird, because he spoiled me. But it hurt.

I was depressed for so long, I didn't go out, I didn't go to school, I kept calling in sick at work. 

Eventually, I tried to kill myself. Obviously, it didn't work because ending my life over a guy isn't how I wanted to go and I had called someone to help me. I stayed in the hospital for a bit. Then, when I got out, I went to therapy.

I had friends and family members come by every other day to visit me and take me out to eat, or just to spend time with me.

I also keep a journal where I write about how I feel. I write in it twice a day: from the minute I wake up, to the minute I go to sleep."

Himchan's story sounds oddly familiar to Jongup, except the suicide part. He won't waste time thinking about where he heard that story before. He wants to pull Himchan into a hug, but his godforsaken leg says otherwise.

Oh, my dear Rosetta, everything, everywhere, everyone, they'll all betray your innocent heart.

"I'm really sorry, Rosetta," Jongup's voice is there, but it isn't there enough.

Himchan heard his apology and stares at him as if he has two heads.

"Why are you apologizing?" He chuckles softly, "You didn't even do anything."

"Well, yeah, but I feel bad. I've only known you for a short while, but I know that you don't deserve that."

Himchan chuckles again, "You sound like my mom, except she birthed me...But it's quite alright. I'm fine, he's fine, it's fine."

Jongup frowns, "Are you sure?"

"It's fine," Himchan hums, "It's just weird that I'm opening up to a stranger."

"It's good to open up sometimes and vent your feelings, Rosetta, even if it’s with a stranger."

"What does Rosetta even mean?"

"It's a flower," Jongup says, "It's pink, almost the same shade of your sweater. I just like to nicknames to everyone so they know I'm not all that bad."

"Ah," Himchan messes around with the couch, "It's a convertible, so it changes into a bed and you can sleep here."

Rosetta, I really don't deserve you nor your kindness.

"Thank you," Jongup says.

"It's no problem, I guess," Himchan hums, folding out the bed and spreading the blanket on top, "We need to set house rules."

"House...rules?"

"House rules," Himchan says, "First off, I go to school every Monday through Thursday for two hours, the most is like, three hours, then I'll come back home for an hour, then I go to work for another four hours.

That means you'll be home alone for at least six hours, unless you have some job or something, I don't know what delinquents do. Just no sneaky shit, and no strangers in my house."

"There's already a stranger in your house, Rosetta," Jongup says smugly.

"And I'll kick you out with no hesitation."

"You wouldn't dare, after all you've done for me."

Himchan raises his eyebrows, "You wanna bet?"

"I, uh, would rather not."

"Good," Himchan snorts, "Now, I'm not asking you to pay for bills or rent, all I ask is that you pitch in with groceries."

Money? Jongup has money.

Jongup has plenty of money. The money that the man in black paid him for killing all those people like he asked him to. But all the money's back at the hideout.

He has no idea how he'll get the money, but it's there, at the hideout. 

Maybe he can call the man in black to drop it off while Himchan's at school.

"Hey," Himchan snaps his fingers, "Did you doze off on me?"

Jongup snaps out of his thoughts, "N-no."

"Good. All I'm asking from you is to pay for food sometimes and to not have the police come to my house. I'm a good person, and I have a reputation to keep in this neighborhood.

Also, if you do drugs, keep that out of this house. Unless it's like, cigarettes, then that's fine. Just smoke them outside on the patio."

Jongup nods. Rules, rules, rules. This is kind of overwhelming.

"That's pretty much it. Are we clear?"

"I hear you loud and clear, Rosetta."

"Stop calling me that."

"I can't. It's a habit."

"God. Fine," Himchan walks over to where Jongup is sitting and helps him onto his feet. He helps him onto the couch and sits him down on it.

Himchan takes his shoes and throws them into the basket where he keeps the rest of his own shoes.

"Oh, wait, take your pants off," Himchan says, smugly.

"H-huh?"

"I told you to take your pants off."

"Yeah, but, why?"

"There's blood on them, and I don't want bloodstains on my couch. Also, nobody sleeps in jeans."

Jongup goes to unbuckle his belt, but stops, "Can you not, uh, look at me?"

"I'm not looking at you."

"Can you just turn your back?"

"Do you have an STD or something that you don’t want me to know about?”

"N-no!"

"I'm kidding," Himchan turns on his heel and walks back to his room.

"Wait," Jongup says.

Himchan stops in his tracks, back still facing Jongup, "I thought you didn't want me looking at you."

"Well, yeah, but," Jongup peels his pants off his body, wincing when he gets to the gauze wrapped on his leg, "Why are you helping me? You don't even know me."

"You sound edgy," Himchan snorts, "Are you done?"

"Edgy?"

"Edgy. Are you done?"

"...I'm done," Jongup says, stuffing the pieces of paper in his pocket into his boxers, which is kind of gross.

Himchan turns back around to face him, "So, what was the question?"

"I asked why you're helping me out like this."

"Do you know how bad it would be if I left you out in front of my apartment bleeding out from your leg?" Himchan asks, "I'm a good person, maybe too good of a person for my own good.

I just like helping people. Plus, I'm a med student, and it gave me a chance to work on my skills."

Jongup goes quiet.

"Was that enough to answer your question?"

Jongup nods, "Thank you. I don't know how I'll make it up to you, but I have to do something for you."

"Paying for food and washing your own clothes while keeping the police out of my house is good enough for me for now."

"You didn't tell me I had to wash my own clothes."

"New house rule," Himchan grins.

"And I am NOT a delinquent."

"You said you got shot in the leg because you owe someone money."

"Okay, but that doesn't make me a delinquent--"

"Yeah, it kind of does."

"Okay, fine," Jongup huffs, "I'll wash my clothes in the morning..."

"I'll lend you some of mine before I leave for school, if you'd like."

Don't let yourself go corrupt like me, my beautiful Rosetta.

"That would be...great."

"Good. Sleep well," Himchan turns on his heel again and heads to his own room.

That homework for bio isn't due til the end of the week. He'll do it tomorrow.

Jongup curls up under the blankets, wincing in pain often when he moves. 

He prays that the man in black won't give him an earful when he fills him in on the details for his report.

But for now, he stares at the ceiling before drifting off into sleep.

Himchan, on the other hand, sits in his bed, writing in his journal about what happened today.

Future Himchan,

Today was one hell of a day. It started out like usual, I went to school, I went to work, I went out to eat with Daehyunnie, I came back home.

I was only home for about an hour until somebody was banging on the door, and that's when I met Moon Jongup, crying and bloody from the leg down.

He's a strange kid, from the beauty mark on his nose to his electric blue hair and his tattoos, but I like it. It's unique. He looks edgy, but in a cool way, I guess. I helped him out with his wound and now he's staying with me.

I don't know too much about him, but I told him about Bang in great detail. That probably wasn't a good idea, but he reminds me so much of Bang.

Jongup calls me Rosetta a lot. It's a pretty nickname, but it's kind of weird. He's sleeping on my couch, so maybe I'll worry about it all in the morning.

\- Present Himchan  
P.S. do your bio homework in the morning!


	3. Chapter 3

Jongup wakes up to the smell of food.

For a second, when he opens his eyes, he has no idea where he is, or what the pain running down his leg is.

Then he remembered everything.

He remembered that the man in black shot him in the leg after ordering him to kill some random guy. The random guy he was supposed to kill took him in and cleaned his wound.

That was a weird experience.

"Good m--" Jongup groans at the pain in his leg. It still hurts, but why?

"Huh?" Himchan looks up at Jongup from the kitchen, "Did you say something?"

"Good morning," Jongup eventually says, sleep filling his voice, "Rosetta."

"Good morning," Himchan furrows his eyebrows at the weird sound coming out of Jongup's throat before going back to focus on breakfast.

"What're you making?" Jongup asks, rubbing the sleep and eye boogers out of his eyes, "It smells good."

"Breakfast," Himchan simply replies.

"Yeah, but what exactly?"

"Food. To eat. For breakfast."

Himchan glances over at Jongup to see his annoyed reaction.

"I'm making bacon," he snickers, "You're free to have some. I probably won't eat it until after I come home from school."

"You have school?" Jongup asks.

"It's a school day, duh. Were you paying attention to my house rules last night?"

"To be honest, I don't even remember half of what happened last night."

"Sad," Himchan says, turning the burner on the stove off, "Well, I have to go get an education. You can stay here and...do whatever you do. No weed."

"I don't...smoke weed..."

"Well, you look like you do."

"You sure love judging people based on their looks, don't you, Rosetta?"

"I can't help it," Himchan pouts, "It's just who I am."

"That'll get you hurt, Rosetta," Jongup says in a scolding tone, "Or even worse, you could end up like me. Please be careful."

"You mean I'll get blue hair and a neck tattoo if I talk shit about someone?"

"Wh--no! I meant That talking shit could get you killed!"

"But you're not dead."

Jongup inhales sharply in annoyance, "Get outta here before I put a bullet in your chest."

"Threatening to shoot me? In my own house?" Himchan pouts again, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I'm not threatening, Rosetta."

"Oh? Shoot me, then. Where's your gun? I want to see it."

Jongup looks at Himchan like he's stupid.

"I don't have a gun on me," he says in a small voice.

"I didn't think so," Himchan grins, grabbing his bag and sitting on the floor to put his shoes on, "You better watch yourself."

"I'm sorry, Rosetta."

"Don’t be sorry, be careful. No, but, why’re you sorry? I was kidding."

"Yeah, but...I don't like threatening people. I usually just go through with it. Threatening is pointless."

Himchan hums as he stands to his feet, "Well, I'm heading out. Be careful, you little weirdo," he grabs his keys, "And no cocaine!"

"I've never seen cocaine in my life," Jongup grins a small grin, "Have a good day at school, Rosetta."

"Yeah, yeah," Himchan says before opening the front door and closing it behind him, locking it.

Jongup watches Himchan get into his car and drive off from the window. Himchan has a nice car.

It looks familiar. Well, no matter.

He reaches into his pants laying on the floor and pulls out his phone to dial the man in black.

He's going to be pissed when Jongup tells him that Himchan isn't dead yet.

"I'm coming to the hideout," Jongup says, no greeting or anything, "I need money and fresh clothes."

"What for?" The man in black asks with an annoyed tone, "Is Kim dead yet?"

"Do you not have any respect for him to the point where you call him by his last name?"

"Answer the question or I'll come over there and slap your fucking--"

"No, he's not dead yet. Sir,” He puts emphasis on the title.

"Well, what the fuck's the hold up?" The man in black's voice sounds more and more irritated by the second.

"I have to get him to trust me, sir. Not everyone can kill people as quickly as you do."

"You're already living with him, what's the problem?"

"I think he's onto me. He called me a delinquent. And a drug addict.”

"You're slipping, Moon," the man in black sighs, "You're slipping."

"Sir, you shot me in the leg for absolutely no reason."

"You're slipping," the man in black repeats.

"Why do you want Rosetta dead so bad? What did he do?"

"Who?"

"I mean Himchan-ssi, sir."

"None of your business. Are you coming or not?"

"Y-yeah, I'm coming on foot."

The man in black sure as hell wasn't going to pick him up, anyway.

"I'll be there in twenty-ish minutes," Jongup says.

"I'm busy. Be quick about it," the man in black says in a cold tone before hanging up the phone.

Jongup sighs. Today's going to be a long day. 

He has to walk all the way to his hideout and pray that nobody sees him.

He stands to his feet, getting used to the sharp pain in his leg, and puts his bloody pants back on. He’ll look sketchy as hell, so he’ll take the back-way or something.

He walks over to where Himchan put his shoes with a limp. 

He'll have to limp all the way to the hideout. Great.

He laces up his shoes and stares at the lock on the door.

It's a very simple lock, but Jongup realizes that he'll have no idea how to lock the door behind him.

He'll have to be quick about it.

He unlocks the door and walks out, closing it behind him.

His limping is painfully obvious as he walks out the apartment building and down the street to his hideout.


	4. Chapter 4

It took Jongup half an hour to limp down to his hideout. He tried to be quick about it, but his leg said otherwise.

He's really sacrificing a lot right now. His leg, his dignity, his life, maybe.

And he'll have to limp back to Himchan's apartment because the man in black sure as hell isn't going to drive him back.

“Moon here," Jongup wheezes as he walks through the entrance.

"I told you to be quick about it," the man in black says, already angry about something.

"Cool yourself, Bang," another man leans in to the man in black's face.

"Shut up, Yoo," the man in black snaps.

"Leader Bang's a little mad that you haven't killed off Himchan hyung yet," the other man whispers to Jongup.

"I can hear you," the man in black says, "And drop the honorific, you sound dumb."

"Dumb?" The other man grins, "I'm just respecting my elders."

"Youngjae, I swear to god, if you don't stop--"

"I kid, I kid," Youngjae says before turning to Jongup again, "You look rough. What happened to you?"

"Bang shot me," Jongup says, "And I'm staying with Himchan and he's at school so I took the opportunity to come down here and get money and clothes."

"Bang shot you?" Youngjae's lips curl into a grin as he snickers and makes finger guns, "You mean like...bang bang?" he bursts out laughing.

"Don't make fun of me," Jongup limps away from the two men, "I don't even know what the deal with Himchan is, anyway."

"Oh, you really don't know?" Youngjae asks, his laughing stopping abruptly, leaving Jongup confused, "He really doesn't know."

"Huh?"

"He really doesn't know. Bang, you should fill him in on the juicy details."

"No," the man in black answers in a cold tone, "Let him figure it out himself."

"You see, Himchan hyung--"

"Yoo."

"He and Bang--"

"I'll shove a bullet down your throat, Yoo. I'm warning you."

"They--"

"For the love of god, just spit it out!" Jongup's growing really impatient really quickly.

Youngjae glances to the man in black. He finds look of seething anger on the man in black's face amusing.

"Himchan hyung and Bang used to fuck," Youngjae says.

"Yoo!"

Jongup squints, "...Huh?"

"Uh-huh," Youngjae grins, "Bang went to his house all bloody and bruised, just like you did," he pauses to snicker again, "And Himchan hyung took him in.

Bang quickly fell in love with him, and took him out on dates and spoiled him. Bang gave him a lot of money to keep quiet. Himchan hyung's really good at keeping his mouth shut."

"So, what happened?" Jongup asks.

"I was getting to that," Youngjae says, "Bang got tired of Himchan hyung and dumped him."

"He snitched on me--"

"No, he didn't. You gave him money to keep quiet. Stop lying."

"I got paranoid, okay?" Bang sputters out, "I loved him, I really did. He was my sweet pea, my babydoll. My pride and joy. I loved him.

I constantly showed him how much I loved him. I took him out, I had sex with him, I did everything with him. I just," he sighs, "I just had to let him go."

The story Himchan told Jongup makes sense now.

He had no idea Bang was dating Himchan. He knew that Bang was dating someone, but he'd always refer to Himchan as some ugly pet name.

Something far uglier than "Rosetta". 

Something like "sweet pea." Sweet peas? Gross.

"Ooh, Bang's getting soft," Youngjae teases.

"Shut up!" Bang yells, "I just got too attached! I didn't want anything to happen to him!"

"That makes no sense," Jongup says, "Because he told me that he tried to kill himself because of you. And I still don't understand why you suddenly want him dead."

Youngjae's mouth makes a small "o" shape. He wasn't aware of that.

"He...tried to kill himself...because of me?" Bang asks, voice much more softer than it was a few seconds ago.

Jongup nods, "He nearly died because of you. Cut the 'I didn't want him hurt' bullshit."

"I'm telling you the truth," Bang says, "I just had to let him go."

"Oh my god, Bang," Youngjae's getting annoyed now, "You're not going to sit here and lie to us, you used him for your own selfish gain."

"Then why'd you give him money?" Jongup asks.

"So he'd keep quiet," Youngjae says, "Otherwise he would've fucked him and left a long time ago."

"So you mean to tell me you fake loved someone, gave them money, had sex with them, and left? And now you want them dead?"

Bang goes silent. He purses his lips.

"I loved him," he whispers.

"You really didn't," Youngjae says, "You're full of it, Bang."

"Then why did I fuck him?" Bang raises his voice a little, just a little, not enough to intimidate Youngjae.

It takes a lot to intimidate Youngjae.

"It's not adding up, Bang," Jongup says quietly, "Why did you fuck him?"

"Because I LOVED HIM," Bang's voice gets louder.

"That still doesn't make any SENSE!" Jongup's voice is getting louder now, too, "You left him! He tried to end his life! Because! Of! You!"

"Why would anyone try to kill themselves over someone like me?"

"Because! He! Loved! You!"

"And I loved him!"

"Then why'd you leave?" Youngjae's raising his voice now, too. Everyone's yelling.

"I told you! I got paranoid!"

"Okay, okay, you got paranoid. Sure, that's cool, but how do you want him dead?" Jongup asks.

Before Bang could open his mouth to answer, Youngjae cuts him off,

"Out of pure bitterness and spite. That's the only valid answer that I can think of."

"But he spend money on him. I'm still confused."

"Bang's full of money. The money was just a way to manipulate him and keep him quiet."

"So you manipulated him?"

"I didn't..." Bang starts to say, "I didn't manipulate him..."

Youngjae exaggeratedly throws his arms around, as if this was some kind of drama on TV, "Why are you still lying? We're not stupid, Bang."

"I really didn't..."

"Spit it out, Bang! Before I put a bullet in your head!"

"You're getting awfully bold, threatening your leader like that, Yoo..."

"Consider it a promise, Bang. And you know how I am with promises. Now, tell us the truth before I go through with that promise."

"I didn't manipulate him," Bang says, and Youngjae's quick to pull out his gun and point it at him.

"You're not slick, Bang," he hisses, "Tell the truth, or I'll paint the wall with your brains."

"I--"

Youngjae cocks his gun.

Jongup watches intently, hoping Youngjae pulls the trigger.

"...Fine. I manipulated him. I told him I loved him, I spoiled him, I fucked him. But only because I was selfish. 

I was horny and masturbating became tiring and my desires became unbearable. So when I first met him, I was quick to pounce on him. I was the predator, and he was my prey.

Now get that gun outta my face before I strangle you with your own intestines."

Youngjae lowers his gun.

"That's a new low, Bang," he spits, "Even for YOU."

"Was the sex at least consensual?" Jongup asks.

"Yes."

"Liar," Youngjae says, pointing his gun at Bang again.

"I'm not lying this time."

"Rosetta didn't say anything about him being assaulted, so I'm pretty sure it was consensual," Jongup says.

"Rosetta?"

"It's my nickname for him."

"So like Bang called him babydoll and sweet pea?”

"Ew, no. I just met the guy."

"Then why give him a nickname?"

"His sweater reminded me of a rosetta."

Youngjae raises his eyebrows before going back to focus at the task at hand, "So, was the sex really consensual?"

"Yes," Bang breathes out, "I swear to god, I didn't touch him unless he wanted me to."

The room goes quiet. 

"I believe him this time," Jongup says quietly, "Otherwise Rosetta would've told me. He was quick to tell me everything yesterday."

Youngjae takes a deep breath before lowering his gun.

"I need a drink," he says.

"I need my money and clothes," Jongup says, limping off to go get his things, "My charger, too. Did anyone touch my stuff?"

"Nobody would dare to," Youngjae says.

Jongup hums and goes to get his stuff and puts it in a bag. 

He puts the bag on his back, "I'm going back."

"I'll drive you back," Youngjae offers.

"Huh?"

"I'll drive you back to the apartment if you give me the address. I don't want to see you straining yourself on that leg."

"That'd be cool. Thanks."

Youngjae hums and walks out the hideout, not daring to make eye contact with Bang.

Jongup follows behind him, but actually makes eye contact with Bang.

"Yongguk, you're a horrible person," Jongup says.

Bang's a little shocked, just a little, that Jongup's referring him by his first name.

"We kill people for money, and I'm the horrible person?" He grins, "Then what does that make you?"

"Better than you by comparison," Jongup spits before walking out the hideout.

"Be quick about it," Yongguk says before returning to his business.

Pursuit. Pursuit.

Don't ever give in.

Rosetta, oh, my beautiful flower, you must be careful.

Because everyone, everywhere, everything, they're all out to betray your innocent heart.

All of them, all of them!

Soon will be rotten.

Vile. Vile!

Shield yourself!

Mind my words, and don't let yourself go corrupt like me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter's just a brief look into yongguk and himchan's relationship the day he left him, and a brief look into himchan spiraling into depression (also an excuse to write smut heh) 
> 
> tw for mentions of suicide and self harm!

\--

The heavy smell of cigarettes and sweat fill up the air in the room.

Articles of clothing, shirts, pants, belts, socks, underwear, they're all scattered across the floor like a Picasso painting.

The sound of wet kisses being placed on skin, loud moans and gasps, low grunts and growls, and soft sighs of pleasure fill up the room.

"Bang..."

"Hush, baby. I'll make it feel good in a minute."

A loud, drawn out moan follows soon after.

Hands are everywhere; cupping faces, tangled in hair, rubbing nipples ever so roughly, grabbing and groping ass, spanking it, nails being dragged along skin, leaving fresh red marks.

Not enough to draw blood.

There's so many marks on their bodies. Bite marks, bruises, hickeys that'll never be seen again, scratch marks, hand prints and good grips on thighs and ass, as far as the eye can see.

When they fuck, they do it rough.

They kiss. Once. Twice. Thrice. Again. Again. Again.

He sucks and bites on his bottom lip, pulling away when they kiss.

A playful nip on his lip turns into a hungry bite.

Playful nipping on his nipple into hungry sucking.

Like a leech.

They kiss. Four times. Five times. Six. Again. Again. Again.

"Bang--"

"Mmm, what is it?"

"Right there....right there...ah--"

"Did that feel good?"

He knows exactly where to touch him to make him feel good.

“Don’t hold in those beautiful sounds, baby,” he coos, noticing how he’s stifling his moans, “I want to hear you.”

They kiss. Seven times. Eight. Nine. Again. Again. Again.

More tongue, less teeth.

He clings to him and bites down on his shoulder blade as he thrusts in and out of him at a quick pace.

"More," he whimpers, "Give me more."

"You want more?" A low grunt leaves his lips, "Do you even deserve it?"

"I've been good," the other voice cries out, "I've been so good--give it to me--" he draws out his sentence in a whiny, high pitched voice, kind of like a child, begging for a toy or some other reward of praise, because they've been good.

The thrusts become sloppier and sloppier, the grunts, the groans, the growls, the whines, whimpers, moans, every word, every sound leaving their lips, they grow louder and louder.

Everything, everything, it's happening too fast, they kiss again and he moans into his mouth.

When they pull back, everything goes silent.

A loud shout and a gasp leaves his lips as his orgasm rips through him, leaving his whole body shaking and trembling.

A loud grunt leaves the lips of the other as his orgasm takes over his own body.

Their pants and whines afterward mix together, and they sound melodic.

"Bang...that was...amazing.”

"Hmm. You were cute.”

And that was the last time that Himchan saw Yongguk.

Oh, Rosetta, my darling Rosetta, you must be careful.

Because everyone, everywhere, everything, they're trying to betray your innocent heart.

All of them, all of them!

It'll be rotten.

Vile. Vile!

Shield yourself.

Please, mark my words, and don't go corrupt like me.

\--

Himchan hates himself.

That would be a given since Yongguk got up and left him after they made love.

Is it because Yongguk's part of a gang? No, Himchan kept quiet, just like he begged him to. 

Does he not love me anymore?

Himchan isn't too sure what caused Yongguk to leave, but what he is sure of is that he hates his fucking guts.

He hasn't been to school in lord knows how long.

He keeps calling in sick at work, using up all his hard earned sick days.

"Yes...This is Kim Himchan...I regret to inform you that I will not be coming in today, I'm not feeling well. Yes. Thank you, I'll try to feel better soon..."

He spends his time curled up in a ball in bed, wallowing in self hatred. 

I hate myself, I hate myself.

Why did I let him in so easily?

I hate myself.

He eats to fill that hole in his chest that Yongguk took along with him.

He'll eat and eat until his stomach pops.

Stress eating’s a dangerous game, but it's a game he's willing to play.

But no matter how much he eats, nothing will fill that hole in his chest, that void of nothingness that Yongguk took from him.

I fucking hate myself.

Himchan loves him, he loves Yongguk so fucking much, but Yongguk didn't feel the same.

He spoiled him rotten, he took him out on dates, he kissed him, he fucked him, so many times, it almost became repetitive. Maybe that's why Yongguk left. Their routine became repetitive.

Dates, kiss, fuck, cuddle, repeat. They switched positions in bed, depending on how Himchan felt. If he wanted to do all the work, Yongguk would let him. If Yongguk was feeling needy and dominant, Himchan would let him fulfill his needs.

Even though the routine became repetitive, it meant so much to Himchan, but apparently, to Yongguk, it didn't mean shit.

He was just a one night stand that lasted for a couple months.

A couple months night stand.

Yongguk was horny and stupid, and masturbating made it worse. So when he met Himchan, he pounced on him and tore him to shreds.

Yongguk was the predator, Himchan was the prey.

Yongguk was the lion, Himchan was the gazelle.

I hate myself. 

Himchan's so close to ending it all. 

He has no motivation to live anymore since everything good in life has been taken from him.

Like taking candy from a baby.

His razors welcome him with open arms.

And he lets them in, carving lines into his skin.

Fresh scars, old scars, they all burn into his skin, they burn when he touches them, they burned when Yongguk traced his fingers on them.

Somehow, they fill that void in Himchan's chest, as if Yongguk never left.

Maybe Yongguk left to find someone bigger and better than Himchan.

Himchan wasn't enough. He wasn’t shit, except for a place to go for a quick fuck.

He's so close to ending it all; he's got the motivation to do so.

Those voices in his head, scratching at his brain, telling him shit he doesn’t want to hear, but he’s forced to listen to them anyway, they’re telling him to.

But instead of giving in to the voices, he calls a trusted friend on the phone.

"Daehyunnie? Yes, this is Himchan. Yeah, I know it's been a while. How can I put this...you see,

I want to fucking kill myself."

\--

Himchan hates himself less now.

A month ago, he wanted to end it all. He spent his time in bed and eating.

Now, he's back at school, back at work, he's happy.

The hole in his chest is slowly being filled with love.

Platonic love.

He's clingy with his friends.

He hugs them, wraps his arms around them, and, if he likes them that much, he kisses them.

Soft, loving kisses on the cheeks and forehead.

He keeps a journal to write his thoughts and feelings in.

He writes in it twice a day, from the minute he wakes up to the minute he goes to bed.

He goes to therapy once a month. He hates going to therapy, but his therapist is very nice and understanding.

At least it isn't a group therapy. That would be so much worse.

Opening up and venting to one stranger is tough enough, but imagine venting to a whole room full of strangers.

Himchan would rather drop dead.

Wait, maybe he shouldn't say that.

The point is that Himchan is happy without Yongguk, meanwhile Yongguk is still a dirty, conniving little heathen who still kills people for money.

But little does Himchan know is that he's next on Yongguk's list.

And Jongup's the man who's been assigned to carry out the nasty plan.

"And be quick about it," Yongguk would say with a disgusting grin plastered on his face, 

"Don't fuck this up."

Run. Run, my beautiful Rosetta.

Search. Search, my angel.

Don't look back. You don't belong here.

You don't belong wrapped up in Yongguk's arms.

Find a future, a land of dreams, a heaven, a home that won't leave you no matter how long you've been lost.

Just please, I'm begging you, stay away from him, and please, don't go corrupt like me.

\--


	6. Chapter 6

Honestly, Jongup's been blessed by an angel.

If it wasn't for that angel (aka Youngjae), he would've been limping back to Himchan's apartment, and that would take such a long time, time that Jongup really doesn't have right now.

Youngjae didn't really do anything. He just drove Jongup home and walked him back to the apartment.

The door was still unlocked, and they both make sure nobody came in and stole anything before Youngjae said his goodbyes.

“Please, be quick about it before Bang blows a fuse,” he warned.

Nobody stole anything. It's not like Himchan doesn't have valuables that can be stolen, but his neighbors must be too nice for that.

Jongup manages to take a nice warm shower and change into cleaner clothes.

Going to the hideout wasn't such a bad idea, after all.

Yongguk's words plague his mind. Yongguk was so...disgusting.

Talking about manipulating the poor guy, now he wants him dead.

Out of his own selfishness.

"Gross," Jongup mumbles, biting into a piece of (really cold since it was left out) bacon.

The sound of keys suddenly hitting the door nearly makes Jongup jump out of his skin.

Himchan's coming home. He'll probably be exhausted. School takes a lot out of people.

Himchan opens the door and shuffles inside, covering his mouth when he yawns.

He doesn't see Jongup on the couch, so he quickly assumes that he got up and left.

He sighs as he closes and locks the door behind him. He was about to take his shoes off when Jongup pokes his head out from the kitchen walkway.

"Welcome home," Jongup says in a soft voice in an effort not to scare Himchan.

Himchan got scared anyway. He chokes on his spit at Jongup's sudden appearance.

"Jesus," he wheezes, "Okay--hi--fuck--"

"Are you okay?" Jongup asks, limping towards Himchan.

"No, no. I'm fine. You sit."

Jongup nods and sits in one of the chairs in the dining room.

"You...smell nice," Himchan says, "It's weird."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Uh, no, I just thought...wait,” he eyes Jongup up and down, “Where'd you get the clothes?"

Jongup can't tell him that he went to his secret hideout to get clothes and money.

Then it wouldn't be a secret anymore.

He quickly pulls an excuse out of his ass, "I stole them."

"Huh?" Himchan raises an eyebrow, "From where?"

"The store."

"You walked out of the house, door unlocked, because I didn't give you a key, out of the building, down the street, limping, mind you, to a store and stole clothes, and they let you keep them?"

"...Yes."

"Did they just say 'fuck it' and let you have the clothes?"

"...I don't know."

"Cut the bullshit," Himchan says with a grin, "Where'd you get the clothes from?"

Jongup pulls another excuse from his ass, "I stole them...from the laundry room."

"You stole somebody else's clothes from the laundry room?"

"They left them in the dryer, basically begging for me to take them."

"That's not how it--you stole their underwear too?"

Jongup grins cheeky grin, "Let's just say that I'm wearing very cute panties."

"Well, okay," Himchan makes a face, a face of disgust, "Let me clean your leg and change your gauze."

"Huh?"

"I have to clean it daily," Himchan says as he walks into his bedroom, "So it won't get infected."

Just how long does Jongup plan to keep this facade up? He's not too sure.

Himchan comes back to the dining room, holding his first aid kit and some antiseptic spray.

He kneels in front of Jongup and rolls up his pants leg.

"You stole some good jeans," he comments.

"I just...saw whatever was in the dryer," Jongup says, smugly.

Himchan hums and peels the gauze off Jongup's leg, setting it to the side, "This is going to burn. A lot."

"What do you m--"

The antiseptic spray does indeed burn as Himchan sprays it on Jongup's gunshot wound.

He winces, the pain lasts for a good ten seconds before he sets the bottle down on the floor.

He wraps a fresh gauze around his leg, making sure to pin it in place.

"There," he says, standing to his feet, "I'm going to take a nap."

"Thank you, Rosetta," Jongup smiles softly, "Are you working today?"

"Unfortunately. But you know, money."

"Yeah, money," Jongup says, awkwardly, "Well, have a nice nap."

"And what are you going to do?"

"Probably nap too," Jongup stands to his feet and stretches before he limps over to the couch.

"Make sure you wash your clothes soon," Himchan says, "Including the ones you stole. And those 'cute panties'."

"I won't forget."

"You know how to use the machines down in the laundry room, do you?"

"I'll, uh, figure it out."

"Don't break anything," Himchan says before returning to his room, dirty gauze and first aid kit in hand, closing the door behind him.

Jongup reaches for the pair of pants with the bloodstains on them and digs into the pocket to find those papers Yongguk gave to him.

It has basic information about Himchan like Yongguk told him; his name, his age, date of birth, current address, body description...

And a little picture of him smiling.

Yongguk probably took the picture of him smiling while they were on a date. Otherwise he'd look like a stalker.

As if he probably isn't one in the first place. These notes are very descriptive.

But hey, that's the guy Yongguk dated.

He folds the papers back up and puts them into the bag where he's hiding his money, clothes, and phone charger.

He takes out the charger and plugs it into the outlet behind the couch. Maybe he'll call Youngjae later when Himchan's at work.

But until then, Jongup lays on his back on the couch, blanket wrapped around him.

And eventually, he drifts off into sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Jongup wakes up to the loud sound of someone banging the front door.

"Rosetta...?" He calls out in a soft voice.

There's no answer. Mainly because Himchan went to work an hour ago, leaving Jongup alone for the time being.

Uh, what's he supposed to do?

Jongup rolls off the couch and shuffles over to the front door.

Without peeking through the conveniently placed peephole, he unlocks the door and opens it.

Yongguk's staring back at him through the doorway.

Before he can say anything, Jongup immediately slams the door in his face and turns to go mind his own business elsewhere.

"Open the fucking door, Moon!" Yongguk yells from the other side of the door, "You're on thin fucking ice!"

With a low groan of annoyance and a roll of the eyes, Jongup turns back around to open the front door.

He opens it just a little bit, "Why the hell are you here?" 

"I want to see Himchan," Yongguk replies, softly and calmly. It’s scary because he was yelling, not even thirty seconds ago.

"Well, you lucked up on that. He's not here," Jongup says before closing the door a second time.

Before he can close it all the way, Yongguk puts his foot in the doorway to stop it from closing.

"Let me in. Or else."

"This isn't the three little pigs, Bang," Jongup grins, "What're you gonna do? Huff and puff and blow the building down?"

"Or else I'll shoot you in your other leg and pray it paralyzes you."

Jongup groans again before opening the door all the way, "Please don't break anything."

Yongguk looks around the place as Jongup closes and locks the door. It's very nice and well kept.

House plants and bookshelves surround the house, with picture frames with Himchan smiling inside them.

Himchan smiling.

Yongguk misses that smile.

But alas, he wants Himchan dead.

Yongguk can't explain what makes the place look so nice.

Is it the atmosphere? Or the smell of coffee mixed with leather and lavender? Is it the huge rectangular mirror on the wall?

Is it the basic color furniture? Pretty much everything in the house is either white or beige.

Or is it the chandelier hanging from the dining room ceiling? Maybe it's the wine bottles sitting on the kitchen counter?

Yongguk could really go for some wine right now. Maybe Himchan can join him? No, not Jongup. He likes beer.

He walks deeper into the house, peeking in every room.

At last, he reaches Himchan's room.

The smell hits Yongguk like a slap to the face.

It's not a bad smell, no, absolutely not, it just smells exactly like Himchan.

Yongguk can't explain Himchan's scent, nor can he explain exactly what he smells like, but it's a strong, yet delicate scent.

It's like the smell of flowers.

Rosetta.

Yongguk looks over to the left. 

Picture frames and various perfume (yes, perfume) bottles sit on the white colored dresser along with a vase with flowers in them.

They're pretty white flowers.

Another bookshelf grabs his attention. There's a photo album sitting on top of the shelf. 

Yongguk would be damned if he's in that album.

He reaches out to open it.

Baby pictures, pictures of his mother and his sister, pictures of his family and childhood friends...

Pictures that Yongguk has already before, most of them, anyway. There's the one where Himchan was seven years old and wearing dingy overalls.

He was smiling widely with the cat band-aid on his cheek and the helmet sitting crookedly on his head, holding a peace sign.

Himchan said he had fell off a bike minutes before the picture was taken, but was smiling anyway.

The gap in his teeth was adorable.

When he flips the page, there's a polaroid of Himchan and Yongguk smiling together.

Yongguk was showering Himchan in kisses when the polaroid was taken, and Himchan accepted all of them with a bright smile.

There's Himchan's eye dimple and his self proclaimed "bunny teeth", and there's Yongguk's gummy smile.

Yongguk gasps softly as he traces his finger over the polaroid.

This hurts too much.

He closes the album and looks over to the right.

A huge cream colored vanity sits there, makeup covering it.

Dozens of makeup brands, hoards of brushes, lipsticks, eyeliner pencils, makeup palettes, nail polishes, perfume bottles, and a jewelry box.

Yongguk brought him that jewelry box.

There's a small desk near his bed, scattered with art supplies and a few books.

There's the journal Himchan writes his feelings in.

Yongguk shuffles over to Himchan's bed and throws himself on it.

He remembers when they first had sex on this bed.

He remembers it like it was yesterday.

They'd cuddle and kiss afterward. All in this bed.

He remembers the last time they had sex on this bed and when he left Himchan.

He remembers it like it was yesterday.

The look of hurt, betrayal all on Himchan's face as he covered his naked body with the thick blanket will haunt him forever.

He stares at the dangling lights on the wall and the shelf full of music albums.

There's his guitar.

Yongguk would kill to hear Himchan play the guitar again.

He's a good musician. Yongguk remembers when he urged Himchan to major in music instead of medicine.

Yongguk sinks into the bed, pillows and stuffed animals smothering him.

He sits up and takes a peek into the walk in closet.

Clothes. 

Shoes.

Neckties.

All neatly arranged and organized, as far as the eye can see.

Yongguk bought a lot of the clothes in the closet for Himchan, if he remembers correctly.

It hurts too much.

Jongup watches Yongguk tuck his knees to his chest

and cry.

Jongup doesn't feel bad at all.

Is he supposed to feel bad for him? He really doesn't. He really, really doesn't.

"At least take your shoes off," he says, monotonously.

Yongguk sniffles before untying his boots and dropping them on the floor.

"I miss him," he croaks, "I miss him so much, I miss his smile, his face, his scent--"

"What do you want me to do about it?" Jongup cuts him off, "Like, you dumped him."

"I know, but--"

"You're literally paying me to kill him. What's the truth?"

Yongguk looks up at Jongup.

"Get out of his room," Jongup says, limping out of the room to go back into the living room.

Yongguk rolls off the bed, taking his shoes and following Jongup.

"So," Jongup throws himself on the couch, "Which one is it?"

"I want him dead," Yongguk says, wiping the tears from his face.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. You can't sit here and tell me what I do and don't want."

"You were literally crying over him not even a minute ago, were you not?"

"That's the thing," Yongguk sighs, "I don't want to be seen crying over some guy. Who does that?"

"You do. A lot of people do that."

"I...I don't want to be crying over him again. So you've got to kill him. As quickly as possible," Yongguk reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bottle filled with a clear liquid, "With this."

"What is that?"

"Ethylene glycol," Yongguk grins, "It's poison."

"Let me get this straight. You want me to kill the man you quote on quote 'fell in love with' and quote on quote 'miss so fucking much' because you can't stop crying over him even though it was your fault the relationship went downhill?"

Yongguk's grin immediately turns into a frown, "Well, you're making me sound like a monster when you put it that way."

"You kill people for money."

"WE kill people for money. Don't pin this all on me."

"Okay, but the reason you want him dead makes so sense."

Yongguk puts the bottle back into his pocket, "Disobeying your leader, are you? I should shoot you for this."

"Your fragile masculinity is depressing, Bang."

"What does my masculinity have to do with anything? I'm about as masculine as a bodybuilder--"

"You want someone dead because you're crying over them."

"Listen--"

Yongguk's words are cut off by the sound of keys hitting the front door.

Himchan's back. 

And he's early. Way too early.


	8. Chapter 8

Jongup doesn't hesitate to act.

He's panicking a little, but he doesn't hesitate to act.

Yongguk's just standing there with his shoes in his hands like an idiot.

Jongup practically shoves Yongguk in the small space behind the couch.

"Ow--okay--ow--"

"Stop complaining and don't move," Jongup hisses before sitting on the couch as nonchalantly as possible before Himchan opens the door.

"I'm home," Himchan says with a smile, "My co-worker wanted more hours so they covered my shift. I brought pizza."

"Welcome home, Rosett--" Jongup's words were cut off by a loud growl.

His face immediately sinks.

"God, were you that hungry?" Himchan chuckles uneasily, closing the door behind him, "I offered you my food if you wanted any..."

That wasn't Jongup's stomach. 

It was Yongguk's, but he'll play it off like it was his.

"Yeah," Jongup lets out an awkward chuckle as he pats his stomach, "I'm just...a bottomless pit, if you catch my drift."

"You're the weirdest guy I've ever met," Himchan says, walking over to the kitchen to place the pizza boxes on the counter.

"I can't help it. My stomach's a bottomless pit."

"...Yeah."

Jongup already ran the (dry ass) joke to the ground. How embarrassing.

"So anyway, tell me about your day, Rosetta. I'll listen."

"I'll tell you once you fill that bottomless pit of yours, you weirdo," Himchan says, playfulness filling his tone.

"You can't fill a bottomless pit," Jongup stands to his feet and walks over to the kitchen, "Bottomless is in the name for a reason."

They eat at the dining room table happily.

Himchan goes on about his day, mainly how he broke an acrylic and cried about it for a few minutes.

"Wait, where do you work?" Jongup asks.

"I do hair and makeup for a living."

"So you go to school for medicine but you do makeup?"

"Hey, it puts food on the table."

"Don't you need a license to do that?"

"Yeah. And I have one."

"So, why are you still in school?"

"Well, I wanted to be a doctor. Especially a pediatrician. I love babies. But I didn't have money to go to med school, so I settled with a beautician because I liked doing hair and makeup as well, since I was like, fifteen?

My friend's having a baby, and I went to her baby shower, and that really made me want to study medicine.

I also play instruments too. That's pretty much it."

"You're cool," Jongup says.

"I guess."

Yongguk carefully pokes his head out from behind the couch, listening to Himchan talk about his dreams.

His heart clenches when Himchan talks.

He's missed his voice so much.

Come back to me, sweet pea.

Yongguk goes back behind the couch, making sure not to make any noise.

He wants to pop out behind the couch and be like "Surprise! It's your ex boyfriend here to kill you!" 

But that would ruin everything.

Plus, Jongup would have tons of explaining to do, and that's tiring.

Nobody wants to explain how they're part of a hitman gang who gets hired to kill people for money and that your ex boyfriend who just so happens to be the leader of the said hitman gang is hiding behind your couch, ready to poison and kill you.

Yongguk's stomach growls again, but significantly quieter than the first time.

He grunts and places his hand over it to rub it.

He looks pathetic, hiding behind a couch in the house of his ex boyfriend, rubbing his stomach.

He feels pathetic.

Well, at least he isn't claustrophobic.

He feels like crying, but his masculinity is too fragile.

Jongup was right.

"I miss you," Yongguk whispers, so low that only he could hear it.

His voice is low and deep to begin with, so when he whispers that low, nobody can hear it and they'll ask him to repeat what he said.

He'll repeat it if it was that important, but most of the time, he says "just forget it" or his famous "mind your own business" line.

If Jongup just minded his own business and worried about carrying out the plan, Yongguk wouldn't be stuck behind here, behind the couch of his ex beloved, rubbing his stomach.

But it is what it is.

Jongup nearly forgets that Yongguk's still here.

"I'm going to go smoke," he says.

Jongup doesn't smoke.

"Wait, help me put the leftovers away," Himchan says from the kitchen, and Jongup happily obliges.

They manage to cram the pizza into containers and put it in the fridge along with the soda bottles.

"I don't have classes tomorrow," Himchan says, "So maybe we can go out to eat at a cafe or something, if that's cool with you."

"That'd be nice," Jongup says, "I just wake up late."

"You'll be sleeping for a while with all that food in that bottomless pit of yours," Himchan says with a grin.

"You ate more than me, though," Jongup's laugh is pure, "I hope you'll have a good night, Rosetta."

"I'll try..."

Himchan goes quiet because of how cute Jongup's laugh is.

"Well, I'm heading to bed or something," he says quietly.

"It's only like, six something."

"I'll watch something or play a game or whatever," Himchan cracks a tiny grin, "Before I sleep. And also, I need to write."

"Oh. Right. Well, I'm going to go, uh..."

"Yeah. You do that," Himchan leaves the awkwardness in the kitchen and goes to his room.

Jongup watches as Himchan closes his bedroom door behind him.

He limps over the couch and peaks behind it.

Yongguk is still there.

"You look sad," Jongup says quietly.

"Get me out of here before I rip your face off."

With a huff, Jongup goes over drag Yongguk by his hands from behind the couch.

"I never knew your stomach could be so loud."

"Shut up," Yongguk spits, laying face down on the carpet.

"I'll get you a slice of pizza," Jongup says, heading back to the kitchen, "You seem to be really cranky without food."

"Shut. Up."

Jongup grabs a napkin and a slice of pizza from a container and hands it to Yongguk.

Yongguk lifts his head up to stare at it, as if he's never seen pizza before.

"Get up," Jongup says, "I have to, ahem, smoke," he coughs awkwardly.

Yongguk stands to his feet and stretches out his arms and legs, "You don't even smoke, dumb dumb."

"Well, I'm running out of excuses."

"That means you have to..." Yongguk drags his thumb along his neck, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth, signaling the motion of chopping one's head off, "...As soon as possible."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go before Himchan comes back."

"But I want to see him--"

"Nooooooo, you don't," Jongup picks up the pizza slice and grabs Yongguk by the hem of his teddy bear sweater.

"Hey, hey! Watch the sweater! I wanted to look less intimidating for Himchan today!"

"Will you shut up before you get yourself beat up? Rosetta has big ass hands, and looks like he punches hard."

"Stop calling him that. He's mine."

"Yours?" Jongup scoffs, "You're the one who wanted him dea-- you know what," he shoves Yongguk towards the exit, pizza and shoes in his hand.

"Youngjae said he loved my sweater," Yongguk says, softly.

"Nobody cares," Jongup unlocks and opens the door, pushes Yongguk out, and walks out, closing it behind him.

"Please, don't come here again," Jongup says as he limps out the apartment building.

"How come?" Yongguk asks, playing with his lighter, flicking it open.

"I don't want Rosetta--I mean, Himchan, to come home one day and seeing you sitting on his couch."

"Why does it matter? You like him or something?"

"Um. No. I'm just trying to get him where I want him."

"So, you'll actually kill him?" Yongguk grins as he lights up his cigarette.

Jongup shrugs, "Boss's orders."

"I love it when you do things my way, Moon," Yongguk pats Jongup on the back.

"Are you going to eat this pizza or not?"

"After I finish my cigarette."

"How long does it take someone to smoke a cigarette?"

"A few minutes--fuck."

Yongguk stares at the cigarette on the ground. He dropped it.

"That's your own goddamn fault," Jongup sighs, running his fingers through his hair, "Step on it before we all go up in flames."

"I didn't put my shoes on."

"Well, put them on."

"Hold this," Yongguk gives Jongup his pizza slice before sitting on the concrete steps to lace up his boots.

“Wait, where’d you put the stuff you kept in the little container thing?”

“You mean the ethylene glycol?” Yongguk digs into his pocket and pulls out the small bottle filled with clear liquid, “This?”

“Yeah. Lemme hold it.”

Yongguk shrugs and hands Jongup the bottle.

Jongup stares at it for a little while as Yongguk’s lacing up his boots, and he chucks the bottle into the street.

Yongguk looks up from his shoes with a panicked expression on his face, as if his soul left his body, since the sound of glass shattering from a distance startled him, “What the fuck did you do?”

“I threw the bottle,” Jongup says, wearing a blank expression on his face.

“I paid good money for that!”

“Ain't this the shit you put in antifreeze? Shut up, jackass. And besides, I wasn’t planning on killing him with antifreeze.”

The anger on Yongguk’s face turns into a look of malice or something, “Oh?”

"Yeah,” Jongup shrugs again, “Also, you sat in bird shit.”

"God, did I really?"

"No."

"Fuck you," Yongguk snatches the pizza slice from Jongup's hands.

It's probably cold now. 

It wasn't even that cold to begin with, but it's cold now.

Yongguk'll still eat it, though.

"You've got to step on the cigarette first," Jongup says.

Yongguk stretches his leg out to crush the cigarette as he takes a bite into the pizza.

"This is good," he mumbles.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Fuck you."

“I hope you choke then, cunt.”

“Bitch.”

“Cocksucker.”

Yongguk raises his eyebrows at the name, grinning a little. Would it be a good time to say “You bet your ass I suck dick!”, or would that be inappropriate?

“I do,” he says.

“Huh?”

“I most certainly do suck dick.”

Jongup makes a face, “That’s...great. I didn’t really ask, but thanks for letting me know that you’re not straight.”

“No problem,” Yongguk says with a cheeky grin, taking another bite of the pizza slice.


	9. Chapter 9

Jongup can barely keep his eyes open and his head off the table.

The only thing keeping him awake is the small chattering from neighboring tables around them and the smell of coffee.

Like Himchan said, he's off from school today, and he took Jongup out for coffee and donuts.

Who can say no to coffee and donuts?

And like Jongup said, he woke up late since he has nothing better to do.

Well, he's been assigned to kill Himchan, but you already know how that's going.

\--

"It's only a matter of time before you have to tell him everything, you know," Yongguk says with a grin as he taps his second cigarette.

"Smoking's bad for you," Jongup comments.

"Yeah, well..."

The two sit in awkward silence until Yongguk opens his mouth to speak.

"Does...does Himchan talk about me?"

"No,” Jongup answers, bluntly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes.”

"Positive?"

"Absolutely."

Yongguk frowns a little, "I think I'll give him a call tomorrow."

"Please, for the sake of all three of us, don't."

"Why not?"

Yongguk doesn't exactly understand that Himchan does NOT want to see him.

Himchan doesn't want to be around him, he doesn't even want to hear his name.

Is Yongguk a common name?

Anyway, Himchan doesn't want to see him.

He'd rather drop dead.

"Why do you still have his number, anyway?" Jongup asks.

"Sentimental value," Yongguk puts the cigarette to his lips.

"No, you're just a stalker."

"I wouldn't say stalker...I would say an angry ex."

Jongup's face scrunches up, just like after you suck on a lemon, "What're you mad for?"

"You know..."

"I don't know. I really don't know. There's so much going on right now and I'm in the middle of it all and I'm so confused. I feel like I’m in a really bad drama on TV.”

Yongguk shrugs, "I'm just telling you that I miss him. But also, I kind of want to break into his house and strangle him in his sleep."

"Now I want that cigarette," Jongup snatches the cigarette out of Yongguk's hand and puts it to his lips.

The smell is disgusting, and he gags a little, but he still tries to smoke it.

He can feel the tar and the other nasty shit in cigarettes (don't smoke, kids) slowly starting to stick to his lungs.

He's not having this.

His face scrunches up again as he hands the cigarette back to Yongguk.

"How do people smoke these?" He wheezes.

"It mellows me out, know what I mean?"

"No. I don't. That made me want to die."

"You sound like Himchan when he tried smoking..." Yongguk chuckles sadly, "He whined about how bad it made him feel...then we kissed."

Jongup stands to his feet, his footing a little wobbly, "I'm not going to sit here and listen to you ramble on about about your shitty relationship."

"It was a good relationship."

"Was it?"

"I think so, at least."

"Okay, so why do you want him dead?"

Yongguk's wearing a dark expression on his face, 

"I mean, I wanted him for sex. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Huh?"

"You know me, I tell them I love them, I spoil them, I have sex with them...then I kill them."

Jongup cocks an eyebrow, "So, do you really miss him?"

"Nope."

"So what was up with the tears back in his room?"

"Fake tears, I'm sure."

Jongup slowly nods his head. This is very interesting.

"I know you'll be going back to crying those 'fake tears' within an hour," he says, "But it all makes sense now."

"What does?"

"Bang, I've got two words for you: inferiority complex."

"Huh?"

"You're insecure, aren't you?"

"...Huh?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Bang. You're bitter that he's better than you."

Yongguk chuckles cockily, "Who told you that?"

"Nobody told me, but I'm assuming it."

"You better watch yourself, Moon, or you'll get hurt. Or worse."

Yongguk practically hisses his words.

"Yeah, yeah."

\--

Yongguk's a total weirdo.

Jongup thinks he has some kind of inferiority complex.

Himchan's better than him in every single way, from personality to looks (in Jongup's opinion), and that makes Yongguk insecure.

So that may be why Yongguk used him, and that may be why he suddenly wants him dead.

It all makes sense now.

Yongguk's insecure. 

Behind that cold face he has lies all his insecurities, all those things that make him paranoid, a pinch of self hatred, and a dash of sexual desires.

He hates himself, so he targeted Himchan, who's better than him, and a relationship blossomed between them. 

Yongguk gave himself to Himchan, he gave everything he had to him, from his money to his time, and quickly took it all away to fuel his ego.

Now, that Himchan's back and always on his mind, that fragility, those insecurities and paranoia, that inferiority complex, it’s all coming back to get him, and it makes him sick.

Like, physically sick.

He could be sitting at his desk, doing absolutely nothing, when that awful feeling from the bottom of his stomach creeps up on him. It starts out with his stomach making a loud, unpleasant noise, making him gag, and eventually, making him vomit everything he's eaten that day.

He could be in bed in the middle of the night, when that same awful feeling comes back to haunt him, the same procedures following through.

The fact that Himchan is out there, alive, living, breathing, actually doing something with his life instead of killing people for money (and not wallowing in self pity) literally makes Yongguk sick to his stomach, and it's disgusting.

Yongguk can't take it anymore, so Himchan must die.

It all makes sense now.

Don't ever give in, my darling Rosetta, for everyone, everything, everything will betray your innocent heart.

Jongup stares down at the donut on the as he puts together the pieces to the puzzle in his head.

"Hey," Himchan reaches across the table to tap Jongup's shoulder, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Jongup replies, quietly, "I'm just...thinking."

"About what? You can tell me, I'll listen."

"I'm just...thinking about what I'll do when I leave you. I can't stay with you forever, you know."

Himchan hums, "I understand."

"I don't want you to think that I'm taking advantage of you. You keep giving and giving and I keep taking and taking."

"Not really. You keep me company."

"Huh?"

Himchan shifts his eyes to the side, breaking eye contact with Jongup, "I don't like being alone. It scares me a little. But knowing that you're staying with me puts me at ease, even though you're a few rooms down from me."

Jongup's cheeks flush a little, just a little.

"How long have we've known each other?" He asks, "Not even a week?"

Himchan nods.

This is getting awkward.

"It's amazing how fast I got attached to you," he tries to hide his face with his sweater sleeve, "I really like you."

"I can't hear y--"

Jongup moves his sleeve away from his face, "Rosetta, I like you. I don't know how to explain it, but I like you.

I've learned so much about you during the short time we've known each other, and I want to learn more.

Even though I'm a delinquent, I want to protect you from evil."

Himchan's face flushes as well, "That's really cheesy," he whines, "And you said that you weren't a delinquent..."

Jongup rubs the back of his neck, "Well, I lied. And I got the protecting line from an anime."

"I know a thing or two about anime," Himchan says with a grin.

Jongup's face lights up, "Really?"

"Uh, no. Sorry."

"It's not nice to lie, Rosetta."

"It wasn't a lie, it was more like a joke."

Jongup pouts in an attempt to look cute, "It wasn't funny."

"I'm sorry, tough guy."

"It's okay," Jongup's cute pout turns into a smile.

It's weird because Jongup's supposed to murder this guy, with poison or a gun or whatever, Yongguk didn't specify, but he's grown fond of him.

Yongguk's going to be mad. Really mad.

Maybe he already knows.


	10. Chapter 10

Today was a good day.

Himchan didn't have work or school today, he got to spend time with Jongup, he took a nice, long nap, and that makeup palette he ordered the other day came in the mail.

Today was a very good day.

That is, until Yongguk called.

Himchan's in the middle of using his new palette, trying out the colors, when his phone vibrates next to him.

He doesn't recognize the number. It looks familiar, but he doesn't remember phone numbers. All that really matters to him is the contact name on his phone.

He swipes left on the phone screen, starting the call, and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He says, voice soft.

"Shit...hello?" The deep voice on the other line says, "I didn't think you'd pick up the phone."

The voice is oddly familiar, "Who am I speaking to?"

"Aw, I can't believe you don't remember me, sweet pea."

The second the endearing nickname left Yongguk's lips, Himchan's good day significantly plummets.

He almost, just almost, loses his will to live.

"Bang...?" Voice shaky, Himchan tries to hide how he's panicking, and he's not very good at it, "What do you want? I thought you didn't want anything to do with me?"

"When did I say that?"

"You didn't say it, but you showed it with your actions."

Yongguk's complex is coming back. He's trying to be cool, calm and collected, but he'll snap.

He always snaps.

"Uh...well, I kind of...want to see you again. I want to take you out--"

"You mean, like a date?"

"Well, kind of."

Himchan's thinking of a lie to tell. 

"I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend," he says.

Yongguk wasn't aware of that. Jongup didn't tell him that.

That unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach is slowly building, building, building up.

"Oh. Well," he chuckles, with no enthusiasm in it whatsoever, "I hope your, uh, relationship is a good one."

It'll be way better than the one we had.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask what his name is?"

Himchan's thinking for another lie to tell. 

He'll hate himself for this, but,

"His name is Jongup," his voice is quiet, "And we're very happy."

Yongguk wasn't aware of that either. Jongup didn't tell him that either.

That unpleasant feeling, it's coming back up, ready to spill out, yet again.

"Oh..." he's trying his best to hide how fucking upset he is and how fucking nauseous this conversation is making him, "Well, like I said, I hope your relationship is a good one..."

"Uh-huh. Was that all you called me for? I'm busy."

Yongguk goes silent. He's about ready to throw up.

"....That's it. I'll, uh, talk to you later."

"Unlikely," Himchan hangs up the phone, then goes back to doing his makeup.

Yongguk manages to stutter an "I love you" before Himchan hung up.

He probably didn't hear it.

It's fine, it's cool. Yongguk went to go throw up, but it's all good, it's all cool.

But...Himchan? Jongup? Dating?

Is that why Jongup gets so defensive when Himchan's name is brought up in conversation?

Thousands of thoughts explode in Yongguk's head as he's throwing up.

What if they're kissing?

What if they're going out on dates? 

What if they're fucking?

What else is Jongup hiding?

So many "what ifs".

Yongguk's complex is coming back, his waves of nausea are coming back.

Jongup is better than Yongguk at everything. It's taken him this long to realize it.

But what Yongguk doesn't know is that it's all a lie.

Himchan and Jongup aren't dating.

Himchan just said that to save himself from going out on a date with him.

Yongguk doesn't know that.

Himchan really regrets that.

He'll tell Jongup soon, but for now, he'll let the matter go and pretend nothing happened.

That's what his therapist says.

Let the matter go and time will pass.

He looks at himself in the mirror.

He looks cute. He feels cute.

He smiles to himself. Would Jongup think he's cute if he wore his makeup like this?

Or would he be cuter barefaced?

Nah. It's cool.

He reaches for his makeup remover wipes and starts wiping the makeup off his face.

"Rosetta?"

Even though Jongup's voice is soft (most of the time), it still manages to scare Himchan.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Himchan wheezes, turning in his chair to face him.

"Sorry," Jongup rubs the back of his neck, "I was just wondering what you were doing."

"I'm just sitting here, taking my makeup off. And stuff.”

"How come? You look nice with it on."

"Huh?"

"You look just as nice without it, too. But you do whatever."

"You're too kind," Himchan smiles shyly, returning to wiping his makeup off, "Did you want something?"

"Yeah. I want to watch a movie with you."

"A movie?"

Jongup nods, "I was looking through your DVD rack. Sorry."

"No, uh, it's okay. Give me a minute to wash my face and you can pick out a movie you want to watch, okay?"

Himchan freaked out, just a little, because he thought he left out his porn stash right in the open. Everyone has a porn stash. Some people are good at hiding it, better than others. He remembered that they're in a shoe box under his bed.

Yongguk brought them for him "as a reminder of him while he's gone", and occasionally goes through them, but it's cool.

Himchan chuckles at the thought of Jongup finding his stash and how embarrassing it would be explaining it to him. His chuckles turn into laughing.

His smile is brighter than the sun.

It makes Jongup's face flush a little, even though he has no idea what's so funny.

"S-sure," he gives a half assed smile before walking out Himchan's room. 

His walking's getting better, by the way. He isn't limping as much as he used to.

\---

In Jongup's opinion, there isn't anything better than being surrounded by snacks, wrapped up in blankets, and watching a good movie.

He hasn't done anything like this in a long time.

He should, because he's so young, but he's so focused on killing people. Hitman stuff. Hitmen have to make sacrifices. 

It makes a good living, putting more than enough bread on the table, but, unfortunately, he never has time to live his life and do ~normal people things~.

He kills people for a living.

Himchan's so immersed in the movie, munching on popcorn, wrapped up in the fluffy blanket.

He looks so cute.

Jongup's focus is on the movie and on Himchan.

But mostly on Himchan.

He's so cute, Jongup wants to hold his hand and stroke his hair and protect him.

Everything.

Everything, just for us.

Just you and I.

Nothing.

Nothing, not a thing for us.

Just you and I.

Jongup takes a breath before turning his attention back to the movie.

Something funny in the movie happened, and Himchan thought it was the funniest thing ever.

(It really wasn't funny.)

So he bursts out laughing, bunny teeth showing, eye dimple showing, and Jongup's heart clenches.

Mind you, this is the guy he's supposed to kill.

His smile's the greatest.

Himchan's the greatest.

Yongguk's going to kill him for this.

"Rosetta," Jongup whispers and nudges Himchan's arm.

Himchan hums, indicating that he heard Jongup, but he's still focused on the movie.

"Rosetta," Jongup whispers louder, nudging Himchan's arm a tad bit harder.

Himchan hums again, this time facing Jongup, "Ow. What's wr--"

Jongup's going to hate himself for this, but he grabs hold of Himchan's face and pulls him into a kiss.

He moves his hands from his face to his waist, pulling him in closer.

At first, Himchan shies away, but after a little bit of time, he begins to melt into the kiss.

Just when the kiss was beginning to get good, Jongup pulls back, red in the face.

"Shit," he gasps, "Shit, shit, fuck, I'm so so sorry, I don't know what came over m--"

Himchan whines and cuts him off by pulling him in for another kiss.

Jongup pushes Himchan down on his back onto the couch and hovers over top of him as they kiss.

Eventually, he slips in his tongue, and Himchan grips onto Jongup's back.

It's so nice. It feels really good.

Yongguk's going to be pissed, but to hell with Yongguk.

Fuck Yongguk, honestly.

Jongup pulls back to take a breather, but Himchan wants more of whatever shit Jongup's giving him.

So he pulls Jongup back in for yet another kiss.

The room's filled with Jongup's grunts and pants and Himchan's soft whines.

This is so nice. This feels really good.

Rosetta, it’s okay to give in, just this once.

Jongup runs his fingers down Himchan's back, touching a sensitive spot on it, and Himchan arches his back and lets out a low moan.

Jongup immediately pulls back, fearing he did something wrong.

"Are you okay?" He pants, looking down at Himchan to look for any signs of pain on his face.

All he sees is pleasure.

"How long...?"

"Huh?"

"How long...how long have you felt this way...?"

"Since the day you wrapped up my leg for the first time--"

Once again, Himchan pulls Jongup forward for yet another kiss, his body practically laying on top of Jongup’s.

As much as Himchan doesn't want to stop, it's becoming a little too much.

The way Jongup's kissing him and touching him reminds him too much of Yongguk.

"No more," he pants, pushing Jongup away, "Enough. No more."

Jongup, once again, scans Himchan's face for signs of pain.

He sees some.

In Himchan's eyes.

"I've had enough," he whispers, "I'm sorry."

"Rosetta--"

"No, no."

"I'm so sorry--"

"Don't apologize," Himchan sighs, "I liked it, I really did, but it all reminded me of Bang."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mess up our relationship, did I?"

Himchan shakes his head and smiles a reassuring smile, "I just need more time. That's all."

More time. Time heals all wounds. Most of them, anyway.

“That was kind of weird, was it?” Jongup speaks up, “I mean...”

“I don’t think it was /that/ weird...I just…need more time…”

“You sure?”

Himchan nods, “Like I said, I liked it, but I need time. I don’t think I’m ready for another relationship--”

“Oh, no, I understand, I just didn’t want to, like, overstep any boundaries.”

Himchan sucks his teeth, because this got really awkward. He wanted to do more kissing and cuddling, but if it wasn’t for Yongguk’s fucking big headed, long neck, weenie dick and his fucked up ego and shitty complex, this wouldn’t have been so awkward.

There’s plenty of choice words Himchan has for Yongguk. But for now, he’ll keep it clean and stick to “big head”, “long neck”, and “weenie”. It’s too late to deal with him right now and whatever he wants.


	11. Chapter 11

Himchan wakes up to Jongup's arms wrapped around him.

He's panicking a little, but Jongup's soft snoring and his breath hitting his face is enough to make him feel at ease.

It's weird. But Himchan will have to learn how to make it not feel weird.

He's always been clingy, from his friends to his past significant others, but with Jongup, not yet a significant other, it's weird.

Maybe because Himchan feels nothing but platonic love for him.

Jongup feels more romantic love for Himchan.

They don't really know how to explain it. Relationships are weird.

Himchan squirms around a little in Jongup's arms, waking him up.

His eyes flutter open as his vision focuses on Himchan's pretty bare face.

"Good morning, Rosetta," he says, voice full of sleep.

"Good morning..."

"Is something the matter?"

"What did we do last night?" Himchan asks, "I remember we kissed, but did we...?"

"You mean, like, have sex?"

Himchan nods, and Jongup shakes his head, "Nope. I carried you to bed and fell asleep on top of you. However, you had some choice words for your ex.”

“Choice...words?”

“Uh-huh,” Jongup lets out a small, dry chuckle, “ You called him an ‘ugly cunt’, with ‘chicken legs’, and an apparent 'shrimp dick'.”

“I…don’t recall.”

“Hmm. Well, long story short, we didn’t do anything freaky, so please don’t worry about it.”

Himchan sighs a sigh of relief. He's not ready for sex again just yet. 

And not with Jongup. With anyone.

Jongup hums and pulls Himchan closer before burying his face into his neck, taking in his scent.

Like Yongguk had mentioned (at least a thousand times before within a time span of a couple days), Himchan does indeed give off a strong scent, but also very soft and delicate.

Like laundry detergent or dryer sheets.

Or the smell of the air right when it's about to rain. That makes sense, does it?

"You smell nice," he whispers.

"I always have to smell nice," Himchan smiles a sleepy smile, "I can't go around smelling like onions or something..."

"True..."

The room is quiet for a while, and Himchan's drifting back into sleep.

During pillow talk sessions or whatever people call it these days, you have to keep Himchan engaged in a conversation, a conversation about anything, really, or else he'll fall asleep.

Jongup places soft, wet kisses on Himchan's face, causing Himchan to burst into a fit of giggles.

"It tickles," he whispers.

Jongup hums again, kissing his face more and more, moving on to his neck, leaving kisses just as soft and just as wet there too.

He squeezes at the soft skin on Himchan's stomach.

He's never seen Himchan's stomach before, but he's sure that it's the cutest thing ever.

He buries himself under blanket just to give Himchan's soft stomach kisses and pinches.

Himchan's giggles progressively grow louder as Jongup pokes his head up from under the blankets.

His smile makes Jongup's heart flutter. 

Mind you, he's supposed to kill this guy.

Himchan's so cute, but he's been assigned to kill him.

To hell with Yongguk. Fuck Yongguk, honestly.

"Rosetta, do you have school today?"

Himchan shakes his head, "I have work today, though."

Jongup goes back to wrapping his arm around Himchan's waist, "Then let's stay like this until you have to get ready."

Himchan hums, and slowly drifts back to sleep.

He has a soft smile on his face right before he falls asleep.

Himchan’s all here for cuddles, soft kisses, and tummy squishes, but no making out and sex just yet.

When Himchan leaves for work, Jongup thinks he'll go back down to the hideout.

No particular reason. He has enough money. He has clothes and his phone charger.

Maybe he'll pay Yongguk a little visit.

(And maybe cut the motherfucker’s dick off--)

Soon after, Jongup drifts off into sleep.

\---

Jongup wakes up to the sound of water running.

Himchan isn't in the bed with him, so Jongup assumes that he's taking a shower or something.

Wanting to respect his privacy, Jongup stretches out his arms, his legs, and rolls out of bed, shuffling toward the bedroom door.

His walking's getting better. He still has to limp, but not as much.

He can change his own gauze (even though Himchan insists on doing it), but eventually, he'll have to walk without it so the wound can "breathe".

That's what Himchan said. He’s the med student, and he knows “everything”.

He shuffles into the living room and collapses onto the couch.

He could take a shower in the guest bathroom like he's been doing, but he wants to lay down a little more. Waking up after naps are always hard to do.

He's mentally preparing himself to visit Yongguk and Youngjae again.

He has no issues with Youngjae, but he's nosy and obnoxious. He knows anything and everything, it seems like, but he can be in the pain in the ass sometimes.

He actually hopes that Youngjae is there at the hideout so he won't have to be alone with Yongguk.

Lord knows what would happen if they were alone together.

Jongup peaks into his bag to look at all the money he brought with him.

He pulled out a wad of cash the other day and gave it to Himchan, and Himchan was so confused as to where he got the money from and why he's giving it to him.

"Where'd you get that?" He asked.

"I earned it. I want you to have it."

"Uh, no," Himchan chuckled nervously, "I have a job. I'm perfectly capable of making money--"

"Take it, Rosetta."

The look on Jongup's face was serious. He meant it.

Himchan took the money and kept it somewhere safe, and gave it back while Jongup was sleeping. 

He didn't want it. He didn’t really need it, either.

It reminded him of Bang.

Jongup suspected as much.

He waits patiently for Himchan to come out of the shower, fully clothed, so he can give him more kisses before he leaves for work.

He's still preparing himself to go see Yongguk.

Lord knows how stressful that'll be.

He's fallen in love with someone he's supposed to kill.

Jongup could've sworn that he's seen this in an anime before, because this sounds like a plot in an anime.


	12. Chapter 12

Himchan sits at his vanity, applying makeup on.

Not too much makeup, though. He's simply going to work.

But he works as a beautician.

Even though he can apply as much makeup as he wants, he'll start out something small.

He wants to stand out, compared to the others, but he'll save that for another day.

Simple winged eyeliner, lip tint, and a little contour. There's nothing wrong with contour.

Himchan looks good, he feels good, today's going to be a good day, so much better than yesterday.

He turns the lights off the mirror on his vanity before turning the lights off in his room altogether.

He walks out of his room, leaving the door cracked, and walks towards the living room.

Jongup's still asleep on the couch.

Himchan smiles a little before placing a soft kiss on Jongup's forehead, causing Jongup to jolt himself awake.

"Did I scare you?" Himchan asks.

"A little. You look nice."

Himchan smiles at the compliment, "I always look nice."

"Well, that's true."

Himchan smiles a little wider, "Well, I have to go work. I'll bring back food if you'd like."

"We still have leftovers, don't worry about it."

Himchan nods, putting his shoes on, "Ooh, if I leave now, I can get coffee."

"Then hurry up and go," Jongup grins, "I can't imagine going without coffee for a few days."

"I get scary without coffee..."

"I bet you do," Jongup holds his arms out, waiting for a hug.

Once Himchan has his shoes on, he walks over to Jongup to hug him.

The embrace is short, but Himchan's skin is so soft.

What's his skin care routine?

"Have a good day at work, Rosetta," Jongup says, watching Himchan walk out the door, “And don’t forget your coffee so you won’t have to kill a man.”

"You too," he says with a chuckle before closing and locking the door behind him.

Jongup watches Himchan from the window as he gets into his car and drives away.

Jongup grabs his towel and his washcloth and goes into the guest bathroom.

Himchan's lip tint left a mark on his forehead. He notices it when he looks into the mirror.

He's also growing a little stubble. He'll shave it later, maybe.

He strips himself naked before turning the water on and stepping into the shower.

The feeling of water hitting skin always makes Jongup feel good, especially when it's hot water.

He'll stay in there for at least twenty minutes, even after cleaning his body.

He's always done that. He's so used to long showers and hot water.

He steps out, dries himself off, and gets dressed for the long day ahead of him.

It's only one in the afternoon, but time's gone by so slow.

Staring at himself in the mirror, Jongup rubs his neck tattoo, tracing the design with his fingers.

Himchan had asked about them, those and his hand tattoos.

"The ones on my neck are like a compass," Jongup explained, "They look like compass needles and they'll point me in the right direction if I'm lost. All metaphorical shit, but I love it. 

The ones on my hands are just roses. I really love flowers, if you couldn't tell. I think my fascination with flowers started when I was younger. But that's a story for another day."

Himchan said he wanted a tattoo, but he's terrified of needles, despite his many ear piercings.

He claimed that he only has three.

Jongup brought along that striped navy blue suit he loves so much, ribbon around the neck included, but he's really feeling the all black and the leather jacket.

He could try to combine the two outfits, but it wouldn't look right.

Leather jacket it is, then.

Fully dressed, Jongup goes into Himchan's room to put on some makeup.

Himchan wouldn't mind, right?

His makeup products look so expensive, it intimidates Jongup a little.

He sits in front of the mirror on the vanity.

Shit, he notices that his black nail polish is starting to chip off.

Would Himchan mind if he redid them?

Jongup searches around the various beauty products and finds a bottle of black nail polish.

He didn't think Himchan would own nail polish, but hey, he's got acrylics.

For some reason, Jongup loves the smell of nail polish.

It makes him mellow. Like how Yongguk mellows out with his drugs.

He carefully paints his nails, blowing on them, painting them again, blowing on them again, and putting on the top clear coat.

They look nice. Himchan wouldn't mind, right?

He should've removed all the old polish first, but hey, it's not that serious.

Himchan wouldn't mind if Jongup put on eyeliner, would he?

He'll put on just a little.

Throughout Jongup's teenage years, he's mastered the art of putting on eyeliner without smudging it and making the wings crooked. Only a few people can master it, and Jongup’s one of those people.

He looks nice. Himchan wouldn't mind, right?

Jongup leaves the bedroom, making sure everything was the way he left it.

He walks into the living room to put on his boots.

He's still preparing himself to go see Yongguk.

With a sharp inhale, Jongup unlocks the front door before stepping out of it and closing it behind him, beginning his short venture to the hideout.

The bitter cold air hits him in the face like whiplash.

He grew to love the cold. He was born in February, one of the coldest months of the year.

The ground's slightly covered in snow, since it snowed ever so slightly the other day.

Shop signs always grab his attention. He walks past a flower shop. Maybe he'll buy Himchan flowers on the walk back.

Rosetta flowers.

He crosses a street. Another one.

Three, four, five.

He passes a ramen shop.

That made his stomach growl.

He puts his hand on his stomach and presses forward.

He crosses six, seven, eight streets, before going through a wooded area.

Sticks crack and leaves crunch under his feet. They used to scare him back during his trainee days, but he's gotten used to them.

Finally, he reaches the hideout.

Jongup takes a long, deep breath.

He hopes and prays to whatever god that's out there that Yongguk goes easy on him.

He's fallen in love with the man he's supposed to kill, just the plot to a cheesy western movie, or a modern day anime.

"Moon here--" he manages to say as he walks into the doorway before a gun goes off.

He's confused, staring Yongguk dead in his face.

It takes Jongup a while to process what happened, but then it hits him.

He's been shot. Right in his chest.

And Yongguk's holding the gun that shot him.


	13. Chapter 13

"Bang, what the fuck!"

"He's dead to me."

Youngjae's yelling at him, nasty profanities leaving his lips, profanities far more nastier than a “long necked cunt” or a “cocksucker”.

Jongup, meanwhile, is laying on the floor, breathing heavily, body shaking.

"Bang..." he wheezes, holding his hand out. Maybe he’ll stop?

He doesn’t stop. Yongguk pushes Youngjae out of his way and fires more bullets into Jongup's chest.

Two. Three. Four. Five. 

Jongup's body flinches with every bullet being shot into his chest.

"Stop it, Bang! He didn't even do anything!"

"He stole Himchan from me."

"You're acting like you weren't just talking about killing him two minutes ago!" Youngjae manages to slip past Yongguk with his tiny body and get to Jongup.

He kneels down before him, struggling to get his jacket off.

"Move," Yongguk says, standing above the two.

His voice is low and deep, in an attempt to be intimidating, but Youngjae isn't scared.

Okay, maybe a little, because Jongup's been shot.

"Move out of the way," Yongguk repeats, "You're in my shot."

"Bang, what the fuck--"

"Move, or I'll shoot you too."

Youngjae pulls out one of his darts in his pocket from his dart board and points it at Yongguk, "Pull the trigger and this is going through your skull."

Yongguk watches as Youngjae holds back his tears, taking off Jongup's jacket.

Please don't be dead. 

Please don't be dead.

Youngjae rips open his shirt and sighs a sigh of relief.

Jongup's wearing a bulletproof vest.

"You can drop the act, Moon," Youngjae mumbles.

Jongup's eyes snap open.

He's really glad he wore the bulletproof vest.

"Fuck you, Bang," Jongup says, sitting up.

"That's no way to talk to your leader," Yongguk spits.

"You just shot me five times in the chest!"

"Want me to do it again?"

"I want you to stay the hell away from Himchan," Jongup's voice is deep, his words came out like a growl.

Yongguk raises his eyebrows, "Getting bold, are we?"

"Let's not behave like animals for once," Youngjae says, calmly, as if he didn't just threaten to kill someone, "Why'd you shoot him?"

"I told you, he stole Himchan from me. Stop instigating."

"No, I didn't--"

"Shut up!" Yongguk roars, "I called him, and he said that you two were dating!"

"Wait, what?"

"Don't lie to me!"

Jongup's super confused. He hears Youngjae whisper an "oh no". under his breath.

This is about to get ugly.

"I don't know what Rosetta's talking abo--"

"Don't call him that! I hate it!"

Jongup sighs deeply, "I don't know what Himchan's talking about, nor do I know what I said to you, but we're not dating."

Yongguk still has the gun pointed at Jongup's chest, even though it's obvious that he's wearing a bulletproof vest. 

He thinks the bullets could eventually go through the vest and into his chest, if he shoots enough bullets.

Mainly because that happened one time to one of his victims.

One time.

"Why would he lie to me?" Yongguk's voice is calm now.

"I don't know, maybe because he doesn't want anything to do with you anymore?" Youngjae chimes in.

"Please be quiet, Yoo."

"I'm telling the truth. Moon, am I telling the truth?"

Jongup nods.

"And there you have it. It's been a while. Get over him already. It's your fault the relationship went downhill--"

Yongguk fires his gun at Youngjae, but Youngjae's too fast.

Yongguk's too slow.

"You gotta be fast to shoot me," Youngjae grins, "I saw you pull the trigger. So, like I was saying--"

Yongguk cocks his arm back and punches Youngjae right in his face, managing to knock him unconscious.

Youngjae's fast, but not fast enough.

"Bang!"

"Shut up, Moon!" Yongguk hisses, "You liar! You're dating him!"

"I'm not! But I kissed him!"

Jongup shouldn't have said that, but inevitably, it would’ve slipped out someday.

Right now isn’t a good time for it to have slipped out. A better time would’ve been when Jongup’s old and wrinkly, on his deathbed, and reminiscing about the past and how he had the quote on quote “time of his life”.

He quickly focuses his attention on Youngjae mumbling something, watching him cough up blood, watching him slip in and out of consciousness.

"You...kissed him?" Yongguk asks, slowly.

"You bet your ass I kissed him."

"Did...he like it?"

"My lips are nice and plump," Jongup drags out the adjectives he used to describe his lips, "You bet he liked it. Loved it, rather.”

"Did you two...."

"No."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

"Yes you are!" hot tears stain Yongguk's face, "You're lying! This is a joke! Right? That was the punchline, right? Well, it's not funny! I'm not laughing! I'm fucking crying! I'm here making myself sick because of him!"

"Why're you crying?"

"You stole him from me!"

"You told me to kill him...?"

Ah, yes.

Yongguk's complex is coming back. It's only a matter of time before his wave of nausea comes back, as well.

He's pathetic. He's weak.

"Why'd you betray me, Moon?" His voice cracks, "Why'd you lie to me?"

"We can't have sex because for one, he's almost thirty and I'm barely twenty five. The age gap bothers me."

Yongguk's trying to keep his cool, even though he nearly killed Jongup and knocked Youngjae out.

"Secondly," Jongup stands to his feet, "I can't touch him because everything I do reminds him of you. What the hell did you do to him? I can't even make out with him without him having an anxiety attack!"

Yongguk opens his mouth to say something, but closes it. He doesn't know what to say.

"I want to hold him and tell him he deserves so much more than the hell you put him through," Jongup starts to raise his voice until he's yelling at the top of his lungs, "He deserves so much better than you! Better than me!

I want him to be mine, Bang! But you took that away from him! Away from me! I don't want him to be scared of me. I don't want anyone I love like I love him to be scared of me. Ever!

It hurts. I want to do everything for him, take him out on dates, kiss him, cuddle him, everything you did, but better, and I'll never leave him like you did, but it'll all remind him of you.

I gave him money once and he refused it. Want to know why? Because it reminded him! Of! You!"

Jongup's gotten possessive.

It's almost like he's turned into a mini Yongguk.

It'll always be the same.

Nothing will change.

It'll always be the same.

Unless Jongup's able to change.

"You murder people for money," Yongguk starts to say, "And you don't want people to be scared of you?"

"I don't want Himchan to be scared of me. I love him too much."

"You met him a few days ago."

"At least I'm not pressing myself on him on the first day like you did."

Yongguk, once again, points his gun at Jongup's chest.

"Shoot me," Jongup hisses, "I dare you. I deserve it. Shoot me."

Yongguk goes silent. He cocks the gun.

"Shoot me, Bang!" Jongup's patting his chest, "Right here! Shoot me!"

And he does. 

Jongup's body flinches when Yongguk fires even more bullets into his chest, but his efforts are useless.

Yongguk could've shot him anywhere else, maybe in the leg again.

But he chose not to. He's gotten soft. That, and he's feeling too sick right now to do anything.

"You're soft," Jongup mumbles.

"Himchan dies," Yongguk says, "Tonight."

Jongup's heart sinks. This was going to inevitably happen, but he had hoped it would come later than sooner.

"Watch yourself," Yongguk growls, dropping the gun to his side and walking off, "I'm going to go puke."

Jongup waits a little bit before moving.

He glances at Youngjae, face bloody and nose crooked, still laying on the floor.

Slowly, in an attempt to keep quiet so Yongguk wouldn’t come back and kill them both, he walks over to him, whispering his name.

"Yoo. Are you there? Stay with me."

Youngjae mumbles something that Jongup doesn’t understand. He seems to be still slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Can you stand?"

"I can't. I can't."

"I got you, hold on."

"Don't leave me here with him. I'll die."

"I won't," Jongup picks Youngjae up and carries him on his back.

Youngjae's super light, so this shouldn't be a challenge.

"He's losing himself," he mumbles.

"Huh?"

"Bang..." Youngjae presses his face on Jongup's back, "....monster."

"Save your voice, okay?"

Just how hard did Yongguk punch him?

Well, he may have not hit him that hard, but when Youngjae fell back, he hit the metal wall behind him, and that probably did it for him.

The sound of Yongguk gagging in a different room is unsettling and gross.

Jongup makes sure that Youngjae's safely on his back, and makes a mad dash back to Himchan's apartment.

He has to be the first one back.

He just has to.


	14. Chapter 14

Jongup's running.

Run. Run.

Search. Search.

Don't look back.

This isn't where you belong. This isn’t who you are. 

He's running across streets, carrying Youngjae on his back.

One street, two, three.

A car horn honks. Jongup almost got hit.

He quickly bows as an apology and continues to run. There's no time to waste. 

He has to be the first one back.

He just has to.

Four streets, five, six, seven.

As the day went on, the air got colder.

It doesn't bother him, but he hopes it doesn't bother Youngjae.

"Stay with me, Yoo," Jongup says.

Youngjae grunts as a response.

Jongup manages to get back to the apartment building, swinging the door open and running to Himchan's apartment.

Thankfully, the door is still unlocked.

He carefully sets Youngjae on the couch. He looks rough.

His nose is crooked and bleeding out the nostrils, there's blood caked all over his mouth, and there's a bruise near his nose.

"Stay with me," Jongup repeats, going over to lock the door and take his shoes off.

He doesn't really know what to do first.

He has so much to do, so much to get done before Yongguk comes and fucks everything up, before it all goes downhill from here, that he doesn't know what to do first.

Maybe he should start with Youngjae first.

Because now that he's fully conscious, all the pain came back and hit him all at once.

And it's unbearable.

He immediately starts screaming the second his eyes snap open. 

He's screaming, he's crying, begging for someone to make it stop.

To take it all away.

"I got you," Jongup says, his brain scrambling to function right. He's not thinking about anything except Himchan.

"It hurts," Youngjae cries out, gripping the couch, "It hurts so fucking much."

"I know. Hold on."

"Make it stop, make it stop!"

Jongup kicks into gear and goes into Himchan's bedroom to find the first aid kit.

Youngjae's still screaming, and Jongup can hear him, even from Himchan's room.

Jongup can't help but feel bad for him.

He comes back into the living room and flips open the first aid kit.

He stares at Youngjae's face, not too sure on what to do.

He kind of wants to wait until Himchan gets home, but then again, Youngjae's screaming his lungs out.

He grabs some antibacterial wipes and wipes the blood dripping from his nose up, dabbing it slightly.

Youngjae cries out again because of the burning sensation, and it hurts when you touch his nose.

"I can try to pop it back into place, Jongup says, making it sound more like a question and not a statement.

"No, no!" Youngjae pushes his hand away from his nose, "Please, don't."

"But it'll hurt if I leave it like that."

"It'll hurt more if you relocate it..."

"Don't talk so much," Jongup grabs another antibacterial wipe and dabs at the blood caked around Youngjae's mouth.

There's a scar on his lip.

"I don't really know what to do," Jongup sighs, "But as for the bruise, I can put ice on it."

"Please..."

Jongup goes into the kitchen and pulls out the ice tray.

He digs into the tray, putting ice cubes into a plastic bag.

He wraps the bag with a paper towel and walks over to Youngjae, putting it on the bruise.

Youngjae winces loudly the second the ice makes contact with his skin.

"It's okay," Jongup whispers, "It's okay. Everything's okay. It'll be a happy ending. Think of happy things, okay?"

"What...what the hell are you on?"

"Chubby puppies. Tiny baby kitties."

Youngjae watches Jongup as he slowly drifts out of reality due to his stress boiling over.

"Cheeseburgers," he says.

Jongup knows that everything's not going to be okay. 

Everything went downhill at an alarming speed. 

He should've just stayed home, but then again, Yongguk is kind of unpredictable, and he wants Himchan to be safe.

What if Himchan never comes home one day?

"Turtleneck sweaters," Jongup whispers.

What if Yongguk takes matters into his own hands and kills Himchan himself?

"Pretty, pretty flowers. Action anime. Ramen noodles."

He's naming things that make him happy, because he's scared, stressed, and on edge. Despite being a hitman, he doesn’t do so well under pressure.

He's waiting for Himchan to come home, or Yongguk to hunt him down and kill him.

Minutes pass.

Minutes turn into hours.

He sits on the couch, twiddling his thumbs, trying to talk to Youngjae to keep him occupied.

"What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" Jongup asks.

"I really like vanilla," Youngjae replies, voice raw from screaming.

"Just plain vanilla?"

"Yup."

"That's boring. You're boring."

"I don't...really eat ice cream. I like cake."

"Okay, then what kind of cake do you like?"

This conversation is going nowhere. And it's driving Jongup up a wall.

Before Youngjae can answer, he's cut off by the sound of keys jangling. 

Jongup's heart's beating so fast, it feels like it's about to jump out his chest.

Himchan's home. He's home.

Himchan opens the front door and stops and stares at the scene in front of him.

Two men, one covered in scratches and bruises, the other with a bulletproof vest on with holes in it, sitting nonchalantly on the couch.

"Did, uh, World War III break out in my living room?" Himchan asks, nervously.

"I'm Youngjae," Youngjae says, waving to Himchan.

"Shut up, Yoo," Jongup sighs, "Rosetta, we need to talk."

"Um. Okay," Himchan takes off his shoes and places his bag on the coffee table, "So, what's going on with you and uh, Youngjae?"

"You see, there's a lot of things I've been keeping from you--"

"I knew that, but go on."

"Wh--how'd you--okay, well..."

Jongup doesn't really know where to start.

"Rosetta, my precious flower, promise me you won't hate me after I tell you everything," his voice is quiet.

"Yeah, sure, can you get to the point? I have to pee--"

"I'm a hitman, Rosetta."

Himchan raises his eyebrows, "So you kill people for money?"

Jongup nods, dreading his next sentence, "And I've been hired...by Bang...to kill you..."

"...Is that why you showed up here with a bullet in your leg?"

"Yes. You're taking this better than I thought you would."

"Absolutely not," Himchan's voice goes up an octave, "I uh, really want to die now."

His hands are shaking. Eventually, his whole body’s shaking.

"Huh?"

"The guy that I like, no, love, was hired by the guy who nearly ruined my life to kill me. Huh. What a coincidence, am I right?"

"Rosetta, I don't want to kill you--"

"How do I know you're not carrying a gun on you? Huh?”

Jongup takes off his jacket and his shirt, "You can see for yourself," he takes off his vest, exposing his bare chest.

It's covered in scars, an old gunshot wound, and Jongup has nice abs.

Himchan stares at them, hands shakily reaching out to touch one of his scars.

"H-how do I know you don't want to kill me?" He asks, "What if you stab me or something right now and leave me to die? Or poison me, and--”

"If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have kissed you the other day, and you'd be dead by now," Jongup cuts him off, "And if I wanted you dead, I wouldn't tell you that Bang's on his way here."

"H-he's coming?"

Jongup places his hands on Himchan's shoulders, "Did you lie to him about us dating? He told me that you said we were."

"I didn't want to go out on a date with him," Himchan's voice is soft and shaky, "He asked me out on a date...I told him I had a boyfriend...he asked for his name and I told him yours...because you're the first boy to pop into my mind."

"You couldn't have made a name up...?"

"I'm sorry," Himchan's voice cracks, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry. I wasn’t thinking, and I didn’t know you two were associated with each other. We're all going to die because of me."

"We won't die," Jongup says, staying optimistic as he wipes Himchan's tears away.

"Yes, we will."

"No, we won't. We won't die if we run."


	15. Chapter 15

Lively, lively

my little angel.

Follow me, follow me.

We'll have great discoveries.

After comforting Himchan as he cried and panicked, Jongup and Youngjae come up with a plan to keep Himchan safe.

"So," Jongup starts, "We go back to the hideout--"

Youngjae cuts him off, "Can we even take Himchan hyung back with us?"

"Well, we're not leaving him here."

"A valid point. Go on."

"We need weapons and protection," Jongup turns to Himchan, "Rosetta, do you know how to work a gun?"

"I own one," Himchan replies, softly.

"Oh?"

"My mom brought it for me...for situations like these."

"You're one step ahead, my dear," Jongup pats Himchan's back and smiles for reassurance, "So, we go back, we get the things we need, then we're going to war."

"Not in the living room, right?” Himchan lets out a dry chuckle to keep his nerves from acting up again, “ I cleaned the carpet the other day, and blood stains are hard to get out--"

"Uh, no. Wherever Bang finds us, we'll go to war there. Unless we find him first."

"Bang's unpredictable, though," Youngjae says, "I can't read him. And you know how I read people."

"Rosetta, honey, go get your gun," Jongup says before continuing to plan out their strategy with Youngjae.

Himchan nods and leaves the room in search of his gun.

"I really want to keep him safe," Jongup whispers, "I love him so much, and I just want to keep him safe--"

"I got the memo," Youngjae cuts Jongup off again, taking the ice pack off his face, "I'm not really sure what to do after we get the weapons and stuff..."

"You're supposed to be the strategy man. Come on now."

"I can't think with a broken nose and a bruise on my face. We can just...make it up as we go."

"I think Rosetta can pop it back into place for you. Your nose, I mean."

Youngjae inhales sharply, thinking about how bad it would hurt to have your nose popped back into place.

He's been through worse, he thinks.

"Fine," he mutters.

After a few minutes of searching, Himchan comes back, empty handed.

"Where's the gun?" Jongup asks.

Himchan pulls out the handgun from his back pocket, "Here. I was trying to be mysterious."

"Don't put it in your back pocket. Just hold onto it."

"Uh, okay. Gotcha."

"Can you pop my nose back into place?" Youngjae asks, growing a little impatient.

"Your...nose?"

Youngjae nods, "Bang broke it."

"It all depends on the severity...and they didn't teach me too much about that in school yet...like, they told me treating broken bones, but your nose--"

"Can you at least, like, try?"

Himchan makes a distressed face, "I guess," he kneels down to Youngjae, grabbing gloves from his first aid kit that Jongup left out.

"Don't blame me if I fuck it up," Himchan says.

"Now you're making me nervous," Youngjae whines a little.

"I'll hold your hand," Jongup grabs onto Youngjae's hand, rubbing circles on it with his thumb.

"I'm going to break it."

"So be it."

Youngjae winces when Himchan feels around his nose, touching it to see how bad it is.

"Oh, it's not that bad," he says, "This'll go smoother than I thought."

"Can we get it over with? We’re kind of on uh, a tight schedule.”

"Yeah, yeah," Himchan gets a good grip of Youngjae's nose, "Are you ready?"

"Not really--wait, wait wait, fuck--"

"This is going to hurt. Like, a lot."

Youngjae cries out when Himchan tries to realign his nose. He squeezes Jongup's hand, which causes him to grunt because of how hard his grip is.

"I think I got it," Himchan says, reaching for a band-aid designed for the nose (like that's going to do anything, except make Youngjae look less intimidating than he already is).

"Let go of my hand," Jongup says, prying his hand free from Youngjae's grip, "It's over. Please let go."

Youngjae takes long, labored breaths. He wouldn't mind if he dropped dead right here, right now.

Himchan places the band-aid on Youngjae's nose, "There. Don't touch it. It has teddy bears on it."

"Why, though?"

"Because I'm going to be working with children. Children love teddy bear band-aids."

Youngjae sits up and sighs, letting go of Jongup's hand, "That's fair. Well, thank you. I guess."

Himchan smiles a small smile, that small smile Jongup loves so much and fell in love with. A smile cute enough for Jongup to place kisses on his face.

He moves to kissing him on the lips. They're soft and gentle.

He pulls Himchan closer to him, holding his waist.

This is like déjà vu for Himchan.

"You two do know that this isn't the time to be, uh, making out, right?" Youngjae says awkwardly, but they ignore him, deepening their kisses.

With a huff and a roll of the eyes, Youngjae has to physically pry them apart from each other, making Jongup whine.

"Now's really not the time," Youngjae says, trying to be serious, "We need to make sure that Himchan hyung is safe, Bang is gone, and I'm as far away from you two as possible, then you can swap spit or whatever."

"Huh?" Jongup's a little embarrassed that Youngjae’s calling him out, but he's also embarrassed that he’s gotten clingy and a little possessive.

"I don't want to watch people kiss," Youngjae clarifies with a smug tone.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Sorry," Himchan says quietly, not making eye contact with either of them.

"Don't waste your time apologizing," Youngjae stands to his feet, dropping the ice pack on the floor, "We have to get ready--"

There's a knock on the door.

It's soft. Not a bang. It's strange.

The three look at each other, Himchan showing more fear on his face out of the other two.

Jongup will be damned if Yongguk's at the door.

He tiptoes towards the door, grabbing his shoes from the shoe basket.

He peaks through the conveniently placed peephole.

Yongguk is indeed at the door. But why?

No matter.

Jongup waves his hand toward the sliding screen door.

"Go, go," he mouths, and the other two get the message.

Jongup tosses a random pair of shoes in the basket to Himchan.

He points at the bag where he keeps all his money and clothes.

"Take it," he mouths, “Go, go, go.”

Himchan takes the bag and holds it close as he opens the screen door as quietly as possible.

There's another knock on the door, more forceful this time.

"It's me," the deep voice on the other side of the door says.

Himchan freezes in his tracks.

Jongup grabs his phone and puts it in his pocket, "Go. Go, go, go, go," he whispers, pushing Himchan out the door.

Youngjae's already out the door, waiting as patiently as he can for the other two.

When Himchan finally gets out of the door, he slides it closed behind him.

"You have your gun?" Jongup asks quietly, hiding the fear in his voice.

Himchan nods.

"Go. Run."

So, they run. As fast as they can.

They don't have time to stop and think.

They just have to run.


	16. Chapter 16

They run. 

They have a destination to get to. So they'll run.

Run, run, my beautiful Rosetta.

Don't ever look back. You don't belong here.

"Rosetta, where's your car?" Jongup asks, slowing down his pace.

He realizes that he can't run all the way to the hideout, even though he's walked there so many times. He even ran back while carrying Youngjae on his back.

But he stopped halfway to speed walk.

His leg, mind you, still needs time to heal. Time heals all wounds. Most of them, anyway.

"Back that way," Himchan points to the parking lot behind them.

With a groan, Jongup twirls his finger in the air, signaling them to turn around.

So they turn around and make a mad dash for the parking lot.

"The white one," Himchan pulls out his keys and unlocks the car door.

The car looks expensive. Really expensive.

"He's right there," Jongup whispers, pointing at the figure standing in the apartment building.

"I can't see, who is it?"

"It's Bang."

The three stare at each other for a moment.

The figure moves, but to knock on Himchan's door again.

"Is he that stupid?" Youngjae whispers.

"Why are we whispering?" Jongup whispers back, "It's not like he can hear us."

"But you’re also whispering."

"Okay, okay, whatever," Jongup quickly opens the car door, throwing himself inside.

He's making sure that Yongguk doesn't see them.

"Who here can drive?" He asks, noticing Himchan raising his hand through the corner of his eye, "Not you, put your hand down."

Himchan raises an eyebrow, "But this is my car."

"I understand that, but Bang's after you, and you shouldn't be the one driving."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Lay low in the back. Yoo, you drive."

Youngjae looks at Jongup as if he asked him to kick a dog or push an old lady down a couple flights of stairs.

"I can't drive," he mutters.

"For the love of--you mean to tell me that a twenty three year old man doesn't know how to drive?"

"I'm a criminal."

"That doesn't have to do with anything!"

"It means I can't get my license. They'll look up my criminal record."

"You can drive without a license!"

"That's illegal!"

"You kill people for a living!"

"Moon, we are literally coworkers. WE kill people for a living."

Himchan watches the two argue. They look like an old married couple, yelling over top of each other.

"Stop yelling at me!"

"I'm not yelling at you!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Jongup drives," Himchan finally says, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Wait, what?"

"Can you drive?"

"Well, yeah, but--"

"Then what was the point of us arguing?" Youngjae asks, "You can drive, so what was the point in asking me to drive?"

"Because I wanted to hold Rosetta's hand," Jongup's voice goes soft.

"You two can hold hands until the day you get buried, after we get Himchan hyung to safety," Youngjae sighs, crawling into the back seats.

Jongup glances over at the apartment building.

Yongguk's still there.

He tunes everyone out for a little just to stare at him.

Why is he just standing there? What's he waiting for? Or the better question is, who's he waiting for? 

But everyone already knows the answer to that question.

"Ow, ow," Jongup's startled from his distractions, feeling Youngjae kicking him in his shoulder as he climbs back into the front passenger seat.

"Stop kicking me," he says, rubbing his arm.

"Himchan hyung said he'll throw up, and I don't want him throwing up on me."

Jongup turns around to look at Himchan. He can see all the nerves and the fear on his face.

It's all painted on his face.

Jongup gives him an apologetic look.

He reaches out to hold his face to kiss him, but Youngjae slaps his hand away.

Jongup looks offended.

"No time!" Youngjae says, "Let's go!"

Himchan hands Jongup the keys so he can start up the car.

Jongup awkwardly takes the keys, and puts them in the ignition.

"Why aren't we moving?"

"Shut up, Yoo, I'm thinking."

"You don't need to think to drive."

"You can't even drive. Shut up."

Youngjae fastens his seatbelt with a huff.

Jongup's still deciding on what to do after they get back to the base.

He takes a deep breath before backing up out of the parking lot and driving off.

They have to get there first. They just have to.

\---

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Shut up, Yoo."

"You're not supposed to run a red light."

"Shut up, Yoo."

"Where are we supposed to park?"

"Yoo, I'm this close to throwing you out the car and running you over.”

Youngjae's nagging Jongup to death, meanwhile Himchan's nauseous in the backseat, and you can read it all over his face.

"No, I'm serious," Youngjae says, "Where are we gonna park? The base is in the middle of the woods."

"We'll worry about it when we get there," Jongup looks at Himchan in the mirror.

He looks miserable, and Jongup feels bad. He turns his head to face him.

Only for Youngjae to grab his face so he can face the the road again.

"Eyes on the road!"

"So what, are you suddenly a driving professional?" Jongup asks, smugly.

"If you crash Himchan hyung's car, he's going to be upset. His car looks extremely expensive."

"I'll buy him a new one." 

“If we live!”

Jongup turns his head to look at Himchan again.

Himchan gives him a weak smile. 

Jongup reaches out to kiss him, letting go of the wheel.

Youngjae makes a weird noise before grabbing the wheel from the passenger seat.

He's never driven before. He watches Yongguk drive from the passenger seat when they’re out and about and doing hitman things, so he'll go by how he drives.

For once, Yongguk is doing something useful and not fucking anything up, even if it's indirectly.

Youngjae inhales, exhales, inhales and exhales again while focusing on the road ahead.

He looks up at the mirror, and Jongup and Himchan are still kissing.

He hopes Himchan throws up in Jongup's mouth.

"If you two don't stop kissing," Youngjae starts, "I'll crash the car and kill all of us."

"You know what," Himchan pulls back, "You know what, I'd be perfectly okay with that. After evaluating my life choices right now, I'd be fine with dying in a car crash.”

Jongup makes scrunches his face up at him, "Huh?"

"No, you asshole!" Youngjae exclaims, "I'm not trying to die in a car crash! I have a life to live!"

"You're not special, Yoo--"

"Take the wheel!"

And Jongup grabs hold of the wheel.

They swerve off the road a little, and Himchan welcomes death with open arms.

Everything he ate is coming back up, and he quickly rolls down the window before throwing it all up.

"Is he throwing up?"

"Unfortunately," Youngjae curls up into the seat, muttering “I really wish he threw up in your mouth”.

Jongup looks up at the mirror to see Himchan sticking his head out the window.

He feels so bad. But Youngjae did mention that Himchan was feeling queasy as a heads up that “He’ll fucking throw up, so make sure he doesn’t throw up on you”.

"Is he done?"

"Nope."

Jongup takes a deep breath before focusing on the road. 

The road looks familiar, so that must mean that they're close.

Himchan lays back in the seat, pressing his hands on his stomach, rubbing it softly.

"I need a mint."

"Are you okay now?" Jongup asks, continuing to focus on the road.

"No," Himchan replies, "I need a mint."

"I don't have any. Yoo, you got a mint?"

"Do I look like I carry mints?"

Jongup lets out a deep sigh, "No mints."

Himchan groans and sinks deeper into the seat.

The rest of the ride is silent.

___

"Wait, you can park here," Youngjae says, "We can run from here."

"I don't know how to parallel park," Jongup says.

"Well, you better try."

Jongup tries his absolute best to parallel park.

Only a select few of people have the ability to parallel park.

Jongup, unfortunately, isn't one of those people.

"Go, go," He says while he's scrambling to get out of the car.

Youngjae turns back to face Himchan, "Can you run?"

Himchan nods.

"Good," Youngjae unfastens his seatbelt and gets out of the car, staying behind to help Himchan out.

Jongup, on the other hand, is already up the hill and into the woods, gun tightly in his hands.

Youngjae notices how Jongup's a shitty parallel parker. Himchan notices too.

"I hope I don't get a ticket," Himchan quietly comments.

Youngjae wants to comment on it as well, but he can't even drive. He runs after Jongup, Himchan following close behind.

The leaves crunch and sticks crack from under their feet. It startles Himchan a little.

But he'll be okay. He has other things to worry about.

The three reach the entrance of the hideout. They stand at the entrance to catch their breaths.

Himchan peaks into the entrance,

"Oh my god."

"What happened?" Jongup peaks into the entrance as well, "Fuck."

A deep voice chuckles from inside the hideout,

"It's been awhile, sweet pea.”


	17. Chapter 17

The sound of guns cocking and footsteps fill the room.

Everyone's on edge.

Yongguk slides off the table he was sitting on, "I've been waiting for you."

The smirk he's wearing is disgusting.

How'd he get here before they did?

They point their guns at him as he walks towards them, his gun pointed at Himchan.

"What took you so long? You should know how much I hate waiting."

“How’d you even get here before us?”

“Well,” Yongguk taps his chin, “I work fast. You know that, right, Uppie? I feel like you should know that.”

He takes a good, long look at Himchan, eyeing him up and down, before biting down on his lip.

"You look good," he says, "Really good. You've been taking care of yourself, I see."

Himchan's trembling. The gun's shaking in his hand.

"Are you scared?" Yongguk asks, voice soft.

He's calm. He's cool and collected. It's only a matter of time before he snaps.

"Fuck you, Bang," Himchan hisses, “You two faced cunt.”

"Oh, don't call me that. Bang's my father," he reaches out to touch Himchan's face, "Call me by my first name."

“Paper thin lipped bitch.”

"Ouch."

"Get your hands off him," Jongup says, voice deep for the sole purpose of intimidation.

"Oh, please,” Yongguk scoffs, “ You won't do shit. You’re all talk, talk, talk.”

"Watch me."

"You're getting too bold, Moon," the gun pointed at Himchan's head cocks, causing him to whimper, "Put the gun down or I'll blow his head off."

Jongup glances over at Himchan.

The fearful expression on his face makes Jongup sick to his stomach.

"Put the gun down," Himchan whispers.

Jongup sighs deeply, then drops the gun onto the floor.

The sound of it hitting the floor echoes throughout the room.

"I love it when you obey me for once," Yongguk says, "You're such a good boy, Uppie."

"Fuck you," he spits.

Yongguk chuckles, turning his attention back to Himchan.

"How are you, sweet pea?" He asks, twirling his hair with his finger, "You always look so fuckin’ hot when I see you. It's turning me on a little."

"What do you want from me?" Himchan asks, voice cracking.

"What do I want? From you? Nothing."

"You're a goddamn liar."

"Am I, now? That hurts, sweet pea. After all I've done for you, you continue to go out of your way and hurt me."

"What have I done to hurt you? Humor me. I've been wanting to die all day."

Himchan's getting bold. A little too bold for his own good.

"Aw, dying's no fun, sweet pea," Yongguk grins, "You hurt me. You lied to me and betrayed me for him."

"I thought it was obvious that I didn't want to see you again, considering after all you've done to me. All that shit you put me through, it was torture.”

"What did I do?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I am, sweet pea. Lighten up a little. I just want to hear you tell me what I did to you."

"You...you left me. And it hurt so much. So much to the point where I nearly killed myself."

Yongguk hums, "Why didn't you go through with it?"

Himchan glances at Jongup. The look of sheer anger on his face is kind of scary. 

Jongup can't do anything. If he does, Himchan's as good as dead.

"Don't look at him!" Yongguk raises his voice, "Only look at me! I'm better than him, and you know it!"

Yongguk's complex is coming back.

Himchan takes a deep, shaky breath before making eye contact with Yongguk again.

"Thank you," Yongguk says, voice calm again, "Don't cry, sweet pea, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Yes, you did."

"I didn't. Trust me. That's all I want. I want you to trust me."

"Why would I trust you after you nearly driving me to death?"

"Oh, right," Yongguk taps his chin with his free hand, "Why didn't you go through with it?"

Himchan doesn't answer.

Yongguk leans in closer to Himchan's face, "Do you want me to finish it off for you? I could end it all, just for you, sweet pea. I’ll do anything and everything, just for my special boy. My prince,” He chuckles, “That’s you.”

"Bang, don't--"

"Shut up, Moon. I'm just granting his wish--"

Yongguk stops in his tracks. He doesn't move at all.

Himchan's able to back away from him.

Yongguk's able to crack a grin before falling face first onto the floor.

There's a dart in the back of his head.

"I told you I always keep my promises, Bang," Youngjae appears behind them.

Yongguk's body twitches before it stops moving altogether.

Youngjae killed him.

"Where'd you come from?" Jongup asks.

"The back," Youngjae points behind him, "I didn't walk in because I heard Bang's voice, so I went around back and waited."

Himchan takes shaky steps towards Yongguk's body before shooting bullets into it.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

The sound of a gun firing echoes throughout the room.

"That's enough, Rosetta," Jongup grabs onto Himchan's arm, but Himchan's not done just yet.

He fires three more shots before bursting into tears.

"He's gone," he whispers, "He's finally gone."

Jongup scoops him up and holds him in his arms, whispering words of reassurance.

"He's gone now, my dear Rosetta," he whispers, "He'll never hurt you again."

He places a soft kiss on Himchan's forehead before letting him go.

"Let's look around for money," he says, looking around the area.

Youngjae looks around the area as well. He thinks it's weird that Himchan's standing over Yongguk's body like that, but he chooses to ignore it and carry on looking for money, or anything better.

The room is silent, except for the sound of Himchan's soft crying and the sound of drawers opening and closing.

Youngjae notices that Himchan's crying gets louder, and he looks up at him, wide eyed,

"No!"

That startles Jongup, and he looks up from a table and gasps loudly.

Himchan's whole body is shaking as he presses the gun to his head.

"No," Jongup's voice cracks, "No, no, no, Rosetta, put the gun down--"

"I hate this," Himchan whispers, “I’m so sorry I dragged you down with me.”

Youngjae and Jongup race to him to see who can get to him first, to see who can get the gun out his hand the fastest.

Lonely. I'm lonely.

Rosetta, the light of my life, please come back to me.

No one, nowhere, nothing, will take anything, anything, anything from me.

Nobody, nobody, nobody ever.

Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody but you.

Himchan squeezes his eyes shut and pulls the trigger.


	18. Chapter 18

Click. 

Click, click, click.

Himchan's eyes snap open. 

"Why isn't it working?!" He sobs.

Fortunately, the gun's out of bullets. He used him all on Yongguk.

Jongup manages to snatch the gun out of his hand and flings it across the room.

Himchan reaches for the gun Yongguk had, but he's too slow. Youngjae grabs the gun and holds onto it, “Hyung, listen to me,” he says, “I’m not giving you this.”

"Why?" Himchan whispers, face stained with tears, "Why won't you let me die?"

"No one will take anything from me," Jongup holds him close, "Not even you."

Himchan's hyperventilating, he's sobbing, all into Jongup's chest. He clings to him as Jongup rubs circles on Himchan's back.

"We got you," Jongup whispers, "We got you. Everything's going to be okay. You're safe now."

"Let me die. Let me die, let me die, let me die."

Jongup hums a soft tune in Himchan's ear while rocking him back and forth.

Meanwhile, Youngjae's looking for something to wrap him up in. Like a blanket or another item of some sort used for comfort.

Jongup doesn't know what to say anymore.

What to do anymore.

He's tired, he's hungry, he's dizzy from stress. 

He's teary eyed because Himchan's so hurt, and he doesn't know what to do.

His slow, steady heartbeat starts to calm Himchan down.

Himchan can't explain it, but when he's nervous or upset, and he's cuddled up to someone's chest, their heartbeat calms him down.

His hyperventilating slowly but surely slows down to regular breathing.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he whispers.

"I'd rather see you like that than see you dead," Jongup whispers back, "You mean so much to me."

"You were hired to kill me."

"I know, and I didn't go through with it."

"Why?"

Jongup runs his fingers through Himchan's ebony black hair, "Bang was an asshole. He was a piece of shit. I have so much to say about him, and you probably do, too. He was stuck up, and he wanted to see your downfall. 

I spent the last couple days protecting you from him. You didn't know it until today, but I wanted to save you from him. You deserve so much better, Rosetta, better than him. Better than me."

Shield yourself.

Mind my words, and don't let yourself go corrupt like him.

Youngjae comes back with a blanket. It's not a good blanket, but it's better than nothing.

He wraps it around Himchan and Jongup, watching them cuddle up together.

He smiles a little, "Are you two going to die like that?"

"Maybe," Jongup mumbles.

"Let's not," Youngjae says, "Not here, at least."

"Are you ready to go home?"

Himchan nods, wiping tears from his eyes, "I'll drive."

Jongup helps him stand to his feet, and they walk out the hideout, Youngjae following close behind.

Youngjae comes back to take one last look at Yongguk's body.

"Bye, Bang. You evil piece of shit.”

\---

The car ride home was silent.

Youngjae stayed in the car, just in case Jongup and Himchan started to make out.

They did. 

Somewhat.

Not really.

Jongup wraps his arms around Himchan's waist to pull him closer.

"I'll take care of your bills for a while," he whispers.

"My...bills?"

"Yeah. Like school, groceries, therapy, we definitely need to get you back to therapy, stuff like that..."

"I have money...you don't have to--"

"I just so happen to also have money," Jongup lets out a breathy laugh, "But I'm being serious. I want to help you."

"You really don't have to--"

"Rosetta, listen to me. I've put you through so much shit, and I want to make it up to you. This is a start."

It takes a little bit for Himchan to accept, but he eventually does.

"Okay, fine," he says, "You really don't have to, but I accept it."

Jongup smiles widely, "I want the best for you, Rosetta. I hope you feel better."

Himchan cracks a small smile.

"Will you be able to sleep tonight?"

"Probably not."

"Hmm. Want us to spend the night?"

Himchan nods.

As if Jongup's smile doesn't get wider enough, he pulls Himchan into a tight embrace.

"I love you, Rosetta."

"I...love you too." 

It’s hard for Himchan to say it, and he nearly chokes on it, however, he feels the need to say it.

It felt good to say it.

Jongup places soft, wet kisses on Himchan's cheeks before going outside to go get Youngjae.

Lively, lively, 

my little angel.

Follow me, follow me.

We'll have great discoveries.

Find a future, a land of dreams, a heaven, a home that won't leave you, no matter how long you've been lost.

Everything, just for us.

Just you and I.

Forever.

**Author's Note:**

> i really don't know how to explain this but this was requested by one of my mutuals on twitter and she liked it so i'm uploading it here, i hope you all like it :^)
> 
> based off of "rosetta" by mili, i think i interpreted the song weird though ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


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